BBC says Taliban ordered it off air in Afghanistan

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) said the Taliban has ordered broadcasters to take its news programs off the air in Afghanistan. 

“The BBC’s TV news bulletins in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek have been taken off air in Afghanistan, after the Taliban ordered our TV partners to remove international broadcasters from their airwaves,” BBC World Services’ head of languages Tarik Kafala said in a statement on Sunday.

“This is a worrying development at a time of uncertainty and turbulence for the people of Afghanistan. More than six million Afghans consume the BCC’s independent and impartial journalism on TV every week and it is crucial they are not denied access to it in the future,” Kafala added. 

“We call on the Taliban to reserve their decision and allow our TV partners to return the BBC’s news bulletins to their airwaves immediately.” 

This comes after the Taliban took control of Afghanistan last August, following the United States’ withdrawal from the country.

Though the Taliban promised to be a more tolerant and humane regime compared to its last time in power in the 1990s, it continues to deprive many women of fundamental rights and education, and reports have emerged of gender-based and retaliatory violence. 

According to AFP, women activists are planning to stage protests of the Taliban’s governing body banning girls from attending school.