The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) announced that over the past three weeks, at least seven journalists and media activists have been detained by the Taliban’s intelligence service and officials from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Kabul and one other province.
In a statement released on Monday, July 28, 2025, AFJC expressed deep concern over the increasing pressure on media outlets and called for the immediate and unconditional release of those detained.
According to the center, on July 26, 2025, one journalist and two media activists were detained in Kabul on charges of organizing training courses for girls, and their work equipment was confiscated. The three were transferred to the intelligence directorate for interrogation.
Additionally, on July 25, 2025, an individual in Kabul’s Karte Se neighborhood was detained by the intelligence service on accusations of designing and providing technical support for news websites operating outside the country.
Based on the center’s information, on July 7, 2025, a local journalist in one of the provinces was detained for producing reports that “were not approved by the ruling authorities.” The journalist was released after two days upon providing a guarantee and a written commitment.
AFJC stated that, due to security concerns, it is withholding the identities of these five journalists and media activists.
According to the center, on July 15, 2025, intelligence officials and personnel from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice raided the office of the “Pixel” media company in Kabul, detaining Nawid Ahmad Asghari, the company’s director, and Mushtaq Ahmad Halimi, his deputy.
The publication “Daricha,” affiliated with the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, released a video on July 28, 2025, showing a “confession” by Nawid Asghari.
In the video, the circumstances of which remain unclear, it is stated that these individuals were detained on charges of promoting Western culture through dubbing serials and collaborating with “biased” foreign media.
The Afghanistan Journalists Center emphasized that these detentions represent a continuation of pressure on the media and a violation of freedom of expression in the country.
You can read the Persian version of this news here:
مرکز خبرنگاران افغانستان از بازداشت دستکم هفت خبرنگار از سوی طالبان خبر داد
