The Taliban suspended the operation of Afghanistan’s only women’s radio station – Radio Begum – after raiding its premises on Tuesday, another move to exclude women from public life and society.
The group took power in 2021.
The Taliban information ministry said the station had been suspended for “multiple violations”. This raid was part of the government’s latest investigation into local media outlets in Afghanistan.
Officers and representatives raided Radio Begum’s Kabul-based compound, the radio station said in a statement. Taliban authorities searched the office, seizing computers, hard drives, files and phones from Begum staff and took into custody two male employees of the organisation “who do not hold any senior management position”, the station said in its statement.
The broadcaster said it would not provide further comment, fearing for the security of the detained employees, and asked that the authorities “take care of our colleagues and release them as soon as possible”.
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The Taliban’s information and culture ministry confirmed the station had been suspended in a statement on social media site X.
Besides “multiple violations”, the radio station was providing materials and programmes to a television station based abroad, the ministry alleged.
“Due to the violation of the broadcasting policy and improper use of the license [from the ministry]”, the radio station was suspended so related documents can be carefully evaluated and a final decision can be made, it added. It did not identify the foreign television channel.
Radio Begum maintained that it had never been involved in any political activity and was “committed to serving the Afghan people – specifically Afghan women”.
Reporters Without Borders (RSF), an independent rights group, condemned the suspension on X, demanding “the ban be lifted immediately”. The watchdog says the Taliban authorities closed at “least 12 media outlets, public and private, last year.
A radio station for women, by women
Radio Begum was founded on March 8, International Women’s Day, 2021, five months before the Taliban took power, ousting its United States-backed government and implementing a strict interpretation of Islamic law.
The Taliban authorities have imposed broad restrictions on women, removing them from public with rules the United Nations has called a “gender apartheid”.
Women have been barred from secondary school and university and confined from certain types of work.
The few women who still appear on television channels are covered except for their eyes and hands. Many radio stations have ceased broadcasting women’s voices.
Radio Begum station staff have broadcast programming for women, by women, including educational shows, book readings and call-in counselling.
In 2024, Radio Begum’s Swiss-Afghan founder, Hamida Aman, also launched a satellite television station, Begum TV, broadcasting educational programmes from Paris to help Afghan girls and women continue their education.
Thousands of videos covering the Afghan national curriculum have also been uploaded to a sister website, which is available for free.
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Crackdown on free press
The suspension of Radio Begum is the latest such action against local media in Afghanistan.
In December last year, Taliban authorities shut down Afghan station Arezo TV and detained seven employees.
The Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice (PVPV) accused the channel of betraying Islamic values. The ministry also alleged the channel was supported by media outside the country, media that is heavily restricted and criticised by the Taliban authorities.
