Taliban rule Situation in Afghanistan

Taliban minister critical of media repression

Afghanistan's deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, criticizes the repression of the media in the country. This is reported by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He is the first high-ranking Taliban to do so.

- Too many restrictions on media organizations are taking their toll [...] Trust them, they are our media, he says.

The Taliban regime has all but eradicated the media industry in Afghanistan. Earlier this year, a ban was introduced on depicting living beings – both animals and humans – in moving images.

The regime has also regularly harassed, beaten, arrested and imprisoned journalists, which has caused hundreds to go into exile.

The Taliban have eradicated their own drug empire

In two years, the Taliban regime in Afghanistan has single-handedly shut down the enormous drug empire that financed their war against the United States, writes the New York Times.

Before taking power, the Taliban themselves controlled large-scale drug production. Hundreds of thousands of Afghans were transported to the countryside and put to work in vast opium poppy fields and methamphetamine factories.

This brought the Taliban millions of dollars in revenue a month – but since they took power in the summer of 2021, they have turned the tables. The poppy fields and factories have been destroyed, and the total ban imposed has essentially cleared the country of illegal drugs.