Kabul, March 04: The Taliban has criticized the Afghan government for forbidding live media coverage of militant attacks, calling it a violation of the freedom of speech.
“This totally undermines freedom of the press and expression and cannot be justified by any means,” Taliban spokesperson Yousuf Ahmadi said on Wednesday.
Afghanistan earlier on Monday said journalists would be allowed to film only the aftermath of attacks in accordance with Article 7 of Afghanistan’s national security law.
The group “respects all those media which are free and independent and support their rights,” Ahmadi added.
“We invite them to cover all our activities against the invaders. Imposing a ban on free media means the government is trying to cover its failures. They have failed… and are trying to hide that,” he said.
Afghan journalists and rights organizations slammed the ban as censorship, despite the officials saying it would protect reporters covering deadly attacks.
——-Agencies