ISLAMABAD — Economic hardship and media restrictions stemming from the 2021 return to power of Afghanistan’s Taliban have reportedly forced approximately 34% of radio stations to shutter operations in the country, rendering hundreds of men and women jobless.

The Afghan Independent Journalists Union (AIJU), a Kabul-based local media monitor, released the figures Monday to mark World Radio Day.

AIJU President Hujatullah Mujadidi told VOA that 345 radio channels were operating in the country before the Taliban takeover in August 2021, employing nearly 5,000 people, 25% of them women.

But 117 stations have since ceased broadcasting due to economic problems, Mujadidi said, adding that 1,900 people, more than half of them women, subsequently lost their jobs.

The remaining 228 stations employ more than 1,800 workers, including a few dozen women.

International sanctions on Taliban leaders and the suspension of financial assistance have deepened economic troubles in the largely aid-dependent country, multiplying challenges facing the Afghan media industry.

Critics say increasing censorship and alleged abuses of journalists by Taliban authorities have severely undermined the Afghan free press.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported last November that more than 200 journalists had suffered “arbitrary arrest, ill-treatment, threats, and intimidation” since the Taliban retook the country.

Hundreds of Afghan journalists have since fled to neighboring Pakistan and other countries, fearing reprisals for their critical reporting while the Taliban were waging a deadly insurgency against the United States-backed former Afghan government in Kabul.

Global media watchdog Reporters Without Borders says within the first three months of the Taliban takeover in 2021, 43% of Afghan media outlets were shuttered, and 84% of female journalists lost their jobs.

Taliban authorities reject the accusations of abuse and blame the closures on lack of funding. Critics question that assertion.

The Taliban recently blocked access to VOA’s Pashto and Dari sites and the websites for Azadi Radio, run by VOA’s sister network, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the allegations they blocked the VOA sites.

On Sunday, chief Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said at a televised event in Kabul that foreign media outlets that “only publish negative news” and “don’t reflect [Taliban] achievements” would not be allowed to operate. He did not elaborate.

The Islamist rulers are also under fire for their sweeping restrictions on Afghan women, who are barred from receiving an education and from most workplaces in the country.

No foreign government has yet granted legitimacy to the Taliban regime over human rights concerns, especially the treatment of Afghan women.

The Key Issue

Taliban-ruled Afghanistan has witnessed a diplomatic exodus in recent weeks.

Saudi Arabia closed its embassy in Kabul and evacuated its staff on February 2. The Taliban claimed the departure was temporary. But sources told Reuters that the Saudi mission had relocated to neighboring Pakistan due to security reasons.

Reports have also surfaced about the United Arab Emirates (U.A.E.) closing its mission in the Afghan capital.

Saudi Arabia and the U.A.E., historical allies of the Taliban, were among only a handful of countries that kept their embassies open after the Taliban seized power in August 2021. The others included Iran, China, Russia, India, and Turkey.

The recent departure of foreign diplomats and embassy staff from Afghanistan appears to be in response to heightened fears over possible attacks by Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K), a rival of the Taliban. The extremist group has targeted the Russian and Pakistani embassies in Kabul in recent months and threatened other missions.

Why It’s Important: The exodus is likely to further isolate the Taliban’s unrecognized government, which has been hit by international sanctions.

By attacking or threatening foreign missions in Afghanistan, IS-K militants appear to be trying to undermine the Taliban’s ties with its key foreign backers and scuttle efforts by the Kabul authorities to attract international trade and investment.

Following IS-K’s attack on a Chinese-owned hotel in Kabul in December, Beijing advised its citizens to leave Afghanistan as soon as possible.

What’s Next: More countries could close their embassies or cut their staff in Afghanistan due to security threats. That also applies to the United Nations and foreign NGOs who have staff in the country.

More departures would be a blow not only to the Taliban’s attempts to gain international recognition, but international efforts to ease the devastating humanitarian crisis that has gripped Afghanistan.

The Week’s Best Stories

• Afghan university professor Ismail Mashal made headlines in December when he ripped up his degrees on live TV to protest the Taliban’s ban on female education. He followed that up by walking around Kabul and donating books to girls and women. On February 2, Mashal’s challenge to the Taliban authorities landed him in prison after he was arrested.
• Mahbouba Seraj, an Afghan women’s rights activist, has been shortlisted for the Nobel Peace Prize. Even as many activists fled Afghanistan after the Taliban takeover, Siraj remained in Kabul to operate a network of women’s shelters. Seraj told Radio Azadi that winning the prize would be a “great honor for me and for Afghanistan.”

What To Keep An Eye On

The Taliban said on February 8 that at least 100 Afghan nationals had been killed or injured in the recent earthquakes in Turkey and Syria.

Members of the Afghan community in Turkey have said the death toll is likely much higher. More than 70,000 Afghans are estimated to live in areas in southern Turkey affected by the earthquakes.

In total, more than 22,000 people have died in the February 6 earthquakes.

Why It’s Important: Turkey is home to about 3.8 million refugees, including more than 300,000 Afghans. Some of them fled to Turkey following the Taliban takeover.

Ankara has not afforded many Afghans asylum or refugee status. Instead, they have been placed under a “temporary protection regime” that puts them in a position to be resettled to a third country or be deported.

That status could complicate or prevent Afghans affected by the earthquake in Turkey from accessing life-saving humanitarian aid.

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