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Concerns raised after NDS chief and Taliban issue warnings to the media

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(Last Updated On: May 5, 2021)

A number of media advocates said on Wednesday that warnings issued against the media by both government and the Taliban could undermine the hard-won gains in press freedom in Afghanistan over the past 20 years.

Concerns were raised after the National Security Directorate (NDS) chief Ahmad Zia told Parliament on Wednesday that a number of Afghan media outlets were broadcasting or publishing “propaganda in favor of the Taliban.”

The Taliban in turn threatened local media and said they would “face the consequences” for reporting biased stories in favor of the government.

Responding to this, the US Embassy and the UK Embassy in Afghanistan issued a joint statement on Wednesday night condemning the Taliban’s attempts “to silence journalists”.

The embassies said: “The Taliban today, two days after World Press Freedom Day, threatened the Afghan media accusing them of being proxies for the government and ordering them to alter their reporting or they would ‘face the consequences.”

“We know the Taliban propaganda machine constantly manipulates the truth in order to deflect blame for the atrocities they commit onto others and to avoid responsibility for their actions.

“We strongly support Afghanistan’s independent media. We condemn in the strongest possible terms the ongoing violence and threats against the media, and the Taliban’s attempts to silence journalists,” the statement read.

This comes after MPs said that NDS chief Ahmad Zia said in Parliament on Wednesday that Afghan media “should be aware of the enemy’s psychological war.”

MP Arif Rahmani tweeted that Zia claimed a number of politicians, experts, and media outlets publicize propaganda in favor of the Taliban. However, he reportedly warned that these individuals and entities would “be treated as a terrorist.”

According to Rahmani, the NDS Chief further said that propaganda broadcast by a number of television channels in favor of the Taliban “is shocking.”

He said “this is not freedom of speech, but it is an abuse of freedom of expression; We will not tolerate it.”

In response to Rahmani’s tweet, the Taliban, in turn, warned Afghan media outlets against publishing or broadcasting one-sided reports.

Zabiullah Mujahid, a spokesman for the group said in a series of tweets: “For several days, the Taliban have been witnessing one sided-propaganda and publications by some media outlets.”

He stated that the NDS is directly involved in such activities, adding: “Media must be aware of maintaining their neutrality” and avoid becoming a “propaganda tool” for the government in such a sensitive situation in the country.

Mujahid stated that if the media continue to broadcast or publish “misleading news and incorrect information” their objectivity could be questioned.

He said the same applies to the spreading of false news and misinformation by the media and journalists.

Should this continue, the onus will be on media executives to deal with the consequences and warned media executives and media workers against publicizing one-sided news in favor of the government.

Meanwhile, the media advocacy organization, NAI, and Afghanistan Free Press Hub said the remarks by the NDS Chief and the Taliban are concerning.

“The NDS Chief has accused some media of cooperating with the Taliban. He has to clarify which media outlets [he is referring to] and which media outlets have done this. A general accusation against all media is against the law. The Taliban also warned the media. This situation risks the work of the media in Afghanistan,” NAI Chief Executive Mujib Khilwatgar said.

The NDS, meanwhile, in a statement rejected the report and stated that Zia’s remarks were misinterpreted.
 
Afghanistan’s national spy agency said: “Disclosure and distortion of the contents of secret meetings to the public is unacceptable, and is contrary to the provisions of the Constitution and contrary to the principles of the internal duties of the House of Representatives.”
 
“The NDS has been at the forefront of protecting the freedom of expression and journalists,” the statement read.

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ISIS-K leader reportedly living in Pakistan’s Baluchistan province

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

Sanaullah Ghaffari, also known as Shahab al-Muhajar, is reportedly the ISIS-Khorasan (Daesh) branch leader and is holed up in Pakistan, Reuters reports.

The 29-year-old took over as leader in 2020 and under his leadership the group has carried out extreme attacks as a means of recruiting, Reuters reported.

Reuters noted that little was known about Ghafari before the deadly 2021 ISIS attack on Kabul Airport, which killed 170 Afghan civilians and 13 American soldiers.

But after Friday’s deadly attack in a concert hall in Moscow, which left 139 people dead, Ghaffari’s group has come under intense scrutiny.

Reuters reports that Ghaffari is said to have been involved in several attacks in Afghanistan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Pakistan.

Pakistani officials said months ago that Ghaffari had been killed in Kunar province in Afghanistan in June last year, but Reuters has reported that he did not die and instead fled to Pakistan and lives in the border province of Baluchistan.

Abdul Matin Qani, the spokesman of the Ministry of Interior of Afghanistan, says that Daesh has been suppressed in Afghanistan for more than two years and has lost its operational capacity.

The last attack carried out by Daesh in Afghanistan was the attack on the Kabul Bank office in Kandahar last week which left three dead and 12 wounded.

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IPL: Sunrisers thump MI in record breaking match

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

It was raining records at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad on Wednesday with the hosts Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) clinching a 31-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Match 8 of the Tata Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024.

Sunrisers’ batting rewrote the record books on a batting belter after the posted 277 for three.

SRH now have the highest team score in the history of the IPL – beating Royal Challengers Bangalore’s (RCB) 263 for five from the 2013 season.

In reply, MI made a spirited effort, and at one stage, were contenders to do the near impossible. In the slog overs, the enormity of the target proved a bit too much, and SRH clinched victory, but not without numerous nervous moments.

To put into perspective the carnage we witnessed – Heinrich Klaasen’s 23-ball half-century was the slowest fifty of the SRH innings.

Travis Head, playing his first match for SRH, raced to the milestone in 18 balls. Abhishek Sharma got there even faster – in 16 balls – to record the quickest fifty by an SRH batter in IPL history.

While Sunrisers notched up the highest total in the 16-year history of the IPL, just as incredibly, Mumbai Indians almost paid them back with the same coin, their batters coming out with a nothing-to-lose attitude.

The sixes kept rolling off the Mumbai bats too, helping them keep up with the asking rate for most of the chase, eventually however, they ran out of steam and finished on 246 for 5, the highest IPL total in a losing cause.

As ESPNcricinfo reported, never were more runs scored in a men’s T20 match (523). Never were most sixes hit in a men’s T20 (38). At the end of the close to four-hour six-fest, only two bowlers returned with an economy rate of under ten an over.

Thursday, March 28 : Match 9

Thursday’s match at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium in Jaipur sees Rajasthan Royals go up against Delhi Capitals.

Fans in Afghanistan can tune in to Ariana Television to watch the match live from 6.30pm. Alternatively the match can be screened live on arianatelevision.com

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Magnitude 5.2 quake jolts Afghanistan

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(Last Updated On: March 28, 2024)

An earthquake measuring a magnitude of 5.2 on the Richter Scale jolted Afghanistan on Thursday afternoon, the National Center for Seismology reported.

The quake was at a depth of 70km and epicentered in the mountainous north-eastern area of Ashkāsham.

The jolt was felt across the region including in Kabul, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and Kyrgyzstan

There were no immediate reports of any casualties.

In October last year, over 2,000 people were killed when four 6.3-magnitude earthquakes struck in Herat province.

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