Taliban govt stops media outlets from holding conference

New Delhi: The Taliban government in Afghanistan prevented media outlets from holding a press conference in Kabul over concerns about the status of media in the country, reported media organisations.

The conference was supposed to be held on Wednesday in Kabul, reported TOLO News.

The Afghanistan Journalist Center in a statement said the conference was to be attended by 11 representatives from different media organisations.

“All national and international media outlets were covering it, however, unfortunately, due to the verbal order of the officials of the Islamic Emirate, the conference was cancelled,” said Ali Asghar Akbarzada, head of the Afghanistan National Journalists’ Union.

Members of the Afghanistan National Journalists Union said that the Islamic Emirate instructed them to not hold the conference until they receive permission.

“We call on the Islamic Emirate to finalise their decision in the future. They should make the decision as soon as possible and give us a permit so we can hold our conference based on it,” Akbarzada said.

The Taliban government did not comment over whether it prohibited the conference of the media outlets or not but said that it remains supportive of the media, based on Islamic regulations.

Over 43 per cent of media activities have been halted and over 60 per cent of media employees have become jobless since the Taliban swept into power in Afghanistan, say media reports.