The Taliban have suspended Afghanistan’s only women’s radio station, Radio Begum, after raiding its premises in Kabul. About this informs CNN.
According to the station’s management, employees of the Ministry of Information and Culture of the Taliban seized computers, hard drives, documents and mobile phones of employees, including female journalists. Two men who worked at the station but did not hold management positions were also detained.
The ministry confirmed the suspension of Radio Begum, accusing it of violating broadcasting rules and improper use of its license. One of the reasons for the closure was the alleged “unauthorized provision of content to a foreign TV channel”, although the name of this TV company was not specified. Reporters Without Borders (RSF) condemned the Taliban’s actions and called for the immediate restoration of broadcasting.
The radio station broadcast six hours of educational programs daily, as well as programs on health, psychology and spirituality aimed at a female audience. She provided distance education to Afghan girls, who are not allowed to attend school after the sixth grade, and insisted that she was not politically active.
In addition to broadcasts on the air, “Radio Begum” offered online lessons, which were recorded in studios in Paris. This provided an opportunity to spread knowledge in a country where women face increasingly severe restrictions on access to education and public life.
