Afghanistan

A Norwegian journalist has been granted unprecedented access to the Taliban army for the first time. The journalist, Norwegian Paul Refsdal, says Taliban leader Commander Dawran granted him the access and allowed him to film the enemy soldiers while they attacked a US convoy. The Taliban leader also allowed Refsdal to film him with his two children. The children were later allegedly killed in a US...

The Afghanistan government has decided to close down the privately-owned TV station Emroz for allegedly endangering national unity and to ban two programmes on two other TV stations on the ground that they were contrary to Islamic values. When it met on 27 July, the cabinet ordered the ministry of culture and information and the attorney-general to shut down Emroz, a station launched in August...

(RSF/IFEX) - Reporters Without Borders condemns the action of the Afghan authorities in holding three journalists for two days after they visited an area controlled by the Taliban in the south of the country. The three journalists - Abdul Wadood Hejran of the privately-owned TV station Ariana, Aziz Ahmad Tassal of the journalists' organisation IWPR and BBC stringer Aziz Ahmad Shafe - were arrested...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has expressed its concern over the worsening situation for journalists working in Afghanistan. Ariana Radio presenter Mohammad Hanif Elam has received several threats over the past five months as a result of his programme “Emroze Der Tarekh” (Today In History). According to IFJ associate the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA)...

The head of a burgeoning Afghan media empire looked down at his new BlackBerry, vibrating against a table in Washington earlier this week. "Afghan civilians injured in Gereshk suicide bombing," read the e-mail headline. Another day, another suicide bombing in another town. Another too-typical news event for Saad Mohseni's stations to broadcast across a country where prime-time programming is...

The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has condemned the attack on an Afghani television reporter who was covering the Taliban-Korean hostage crisis in Ghazni province on August 28. According to IFJ associate the Afghanistan Independent Journalists Association (AIJA), Ariana TV reporter Qasim Rahimi was assaulted by security officials on his way to where the negotiation talks concerning...

KANDAHAR -- Journalists travelling with the Canadian Forces will be required to wear military dog tags to identify them if they are injured or killed, Canada's top commander here said Monday. The new policy is part of a series of measures designed to remind the media of the risks of operating in this war-ravaged country. "We're not trying to restrain the freedom of movement of the media or their...

Afghan officials banned journalists Sunday from shooting photos and video or conducting interviews near the site where talks on the fate of 21 South Korean hostages are being held — new restrictions a day after two Taliban leaders held a news conference there, the Associated Press (AP) has reported. Taliban representative Mullah Bashir (left) addresses media representatives as Mullah Nasrullah...

Afghan secret police have arrested journalist and blogger Kamran Mir Hazar, editor of the kabulpress.org website, for the second time in just over a month. As he left his office Thursday in the company of some colleagues, he was arrested by four men waiting outside. They identified themselves as members of the secret police and took him away, without saying why. “Once again the authorities have...

Media practitioners and journalists from all over Afghanistan have adopted a historic National Charter for Media and Democracy. This charter, enshrining the values of free speech and the right to information of all citizens, will constitute the basis for action by professional media unions and associations in the years ahead. The charter was adopted at a summit meeting in Kabul on July 31. The...