Around 153 Afghan media outlets have stopped operations in 20 provinces following the Taliban takeover last month. As per the reports, these outlets include radio, print and TV channels, and their closure was mainly due to economic problems and restrictions.
The report further added that Masroor Lutfi, representative of the Afghanistan National Journalists’ Union, has urged international organisations to take immediate action to address this problem. Otherwise, soon it will be the end of press freedom and other human and civil liberties. The Paktika-based Milma Radio is one of the outlets that recently stopped its activities. It was established in 2011 and covered political, cultural, economic and sports stories.
Milma Radio had 35 employees with an outreach to 13 provinces and now all of the former employees are jobless. The organisations supporting free media in Afghanistan say economic problems are serious, and operating under restrictions creates big challenges for media. However, the Taliban said that they will try to create a safe environment for media and journalists to continue their jobs.
