Sources have informed Afghanistan International that the Taliban, following its ban on broadcasting images of living beings, is planning to convert some state television stations into radio outlets.
According to these sources, staff from the national television network in Kabul and various provinces are likely to be reassigned to work at these new radio stations.
Information obtained by Afghanistan International suggests that the Taliban is in the process of establishing several new radio stations aimed at promoting the group’s policies and disseminating its religious views.
Sources report that “Radio Bayan-e Shomal” will be renamed “Radio Hurriyat,” with its broadcasts managed by the Taliban’s intelligence services. Additionally, the Taliban plans to launch a dedicated radio station for the Ministry of Interior, and another station for its military forces.
Multiple sources have confirmed to Afghanistan International that the Taliban intends to cease operations of Afghanistan’s national television and replace it with “Radio Shariat,” which is set to resume broadcasting. Radio Shariat was a key media outlet during the Taliban’s first regime under Mullah Omar.
According to sources, Yusuf Ahmadi, the head of national television under Taliban control, stated in a meeting with media managers that the decision to stop television broadcasts was made by the Taliban leadership. The Taliban had already halted national television transmissions in Kandahar and Takhar.
Afghanistan’s national television, as a state-run media platform, came under Taliban control when the group seized power. Over the past three years, the Taliban has suspended many cultural and social programmes on the network and dismissed its female staff.
This move to shut down state-run visual media follows a recent statement by the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue, which indicated that the group is gradually enforcing a law banning the broadcast of images of living beings. A Taliban official told Agence France-Presse that this law is already being implemented in several provinces.
