The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) announced that the National Television broadcasting under Taliban control in Takhar has been halted. During a meeting with journalists and local media officials, officials from the Department of Promotion of Virtue in Takhar banned photography and the broadcast of images.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center reported that National Television in Takhar ceased operations yesterday after receiving orders from the head of the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of the Vice Department in Takhar.

The department opposed the broadcast of images of living creatures on television, citing it as being against the orders of the Taliban leader and the new regulations of the Promotion of Virtue.

However, the Takhar television transmitters continue broadcasting National Television programs from Kabul.

Yesterday, the Taliban’s Ministry of Promotion of Virtue told Agence France-Presse (AFP) that the ban on broadcasting images would gradually begin in the provinces.

Takhar is the second province, after Kandahar, where the image ban has been enforced, leading to the shutdown of television activities.

National Television Takhar was the last active media outlet in the province. Before the Taliban’s rise to power, several other television stations, including Mehr, Mah No, Berlik, Noorin, Omid Farda, and Reyhan, were operating in Takhar. These stations have since been shut down due to censorship and restrictions imposed by the Taliban.

The closure of media outlets in provinces like Takhar reflects the growing media suppression in Afghanistan, severely limiting press freedom and the ability of local journalists to operate.

This continued clampdown on media and freedom of expression further isolates society, leaving communities without access to independent news and information sources in the country.

Iran’s chief of police, Ahmadreza Radan, announced that the country’s police are determined to deport two million “illegal” Afghan migrants by the end of this year.

Radan made the statement on Sunday, October 13, during a ceremony in Mashhad, stating that arrests of “illegal” Afghan migrants in Iran have increased.

According to the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA), Radan added that since the announcement of the deportation plan, both the number of voluntary surrenders and the arrests of undocumented foreign nationals have risen.

He had previously mentioned that the Islamic Republic aims to expel around two million “illegal foreign nationals” from Iran by the end of the current year.

The Iranian government has intensified its pressure on Afghan migrants, imposing strict limitations on their work and activities in most major cities.

Iran’s interior minister, Eskandar Momeni, urged Afghan migrants living in Iran to “return to their country and work to rebuild it.”

However, due to the dire conditions in Afghanistan, including increased poverty and unemployment following the Taliban’s return to power, many Afghans are fleeing their homeland for Iran and other neighboring countries.

Amid this humanitarian crisis, the forced deportation of Afghan refugees adds to their plight. Struggling with extreme poverty and lacking opportunities, Afghan migrants are caught between the challenges of living as refugees in hostile environments and the bleak prospects of returning to a war-torn and impoverished homeland.