Afghanistan Peace Campaign
Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has condemned the Taliban’s temporary detention of 12 journalists in Khost province after morality police arrested them while they were covering a public book fair, calling the incident another example of escalating repression against Afghanistan’s independent media.
RSF said the journalists were detained by officials from the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, their cameras were confiscated, and they were later released after several hours in custody. The organization described the arrests as a “repressive act” that violates press freedom and urged the Taliban to stop targeting journalists for carrying out their professional duties.
According to the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), the journalists were reporting from a book exhibition in Khost city when Taliban morality police detained them on Tuesday. Their cameras and recording equipment were seized before they were taken to the ministry’s local office for questioning. The journalists were released later the same day, but their detention disrupted news coverage of the public event.
AFJC said the arrests were linked to the Taliban’s ban on publishing images of living beings, a restriction introduced under the group’s Law on the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Although the law has not been formally announced in Khost, local Taliban officials have repeatedly enforced the ban against journalists and media workers in the province.
RSF warned that the incident reflects a broader pattern of intimidation aimed at silencing visual journalism in Afghanistan. The Paris-based media watchdog said Taliban authorities continue to impose arbitrary restrictions on reporting, photography and video coverage despite repeated calls from international organizations to protect freedom of the press.
Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have steadily tightened controls over Afghanistan’s media sector. Journalists across the country have reported arrests, interrogations, censorship orders, equipment confiscations and threats linked to their reporting, particularly on issues involving women’s rights, public protests and government policies.
The Taliban have defended the law as an Islamic measure designed to regulate public life, arguing that complaints can be addressed through government institutions rather than public criticism. Press freedom advocates reject that justification, saying the law is being used to intimidate journalists and restrict independent reporting across Afghanistan.