Chinese Foreign Minister To Visit Islamabad on Friday to Discuss Afghanistan Issues

According to Mujahid, Samiullah Hezbollah, has been appointed as the Kandahar Police Chief of the Taliban.

The Taliban spokesperson said that Mullah Shirin has been appointed as acting governor of Kandahar province, while Qari Mohammad Ayub will take charge as governor of Kunar; Bashir Ahmad Haqqani will be the new governor of Nuristan; Gul Haidar Shafiq has been appointed as governor of Jawzjan and Abdul Rahman Haqqani as governor of Baghlan provinces.

In a statement Mujahid stressed that Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban leader has also appointed Rahmatullah Mohammad as the commander of the 209 Al-Fath Corps; Nasrullah Moote as the commander of the 207 Al-Farooq Corps, and Mohammad Ismail Rasekh as the commander of the 203 Mansoori Corps.

The spokesperson of the Taliban said that Ahmad Taha has been appointed as the deputy minister of the Borders and Tribal Affairs and Mohammad Mohsen Hashemi as the Director General of the Supreme Audit Authority.

Before being appointed as Taliban acting governor of Kandahar, Mullah Shirin, was the deputy minister of defence for Intelligence affairs; Qari Mohammad Ayub was the commander of the 207 Al-Farooq Corps; Bashir Ahmad Haqqani was the deputy governor of the Taliban for Wardak province; Gul Haidar Shafiq was the deputy governor of the Taliban for Ghazni, and Abdul Rahman Haqqani was the deputy minister of Borders and Tribal Affairs of the Taliban.

In the Taliban statement, only Mullah Shirin was mentioned as the acting governor of Kandahar province.

He enjoys close relations with the Taliban leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada. He also had close ties with Taliban’s first leader Mullah Omar.

Before Shirin, Yusoof Wafa had been the Taliban’s governor in Kandahar.

According to Haji Zaid, Mullah Shirin will be introduced as the governor of Kandahar on Thursday.

He said that along with several other senior Taliban officials, Sirajuddin Haqqani the group’s interior minister will also participate in the ceremony which is to be held for the introduction of the new Taliban governor.

The UN body said that the journalists have been forced to work in a climate of intimidation and fear amid increased restrictions by the Taliban.

UNAMA stressed that since August 2021, large number of media professionals have fled Afghanistan, and the sector has been hit by the country’s economic crisis.

The UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Afghanistan Roza Otunbayeva said that the World Press Freedom Day was a moment to show solidarity with the Afghan journalists still attempting to maintain independent reporting in the country.

She added, “Journalists are being forced to make editorial decisions based on fear, not public interest. Its sadly part of a wider trend of declining freedom of expression and access to information.”

Otunbayeva called the "persistent intimidation, threats, and attacks" on journalists unacceptable and urged the Taliban authorities to guarantee the freedom and independence of the media, and the safety of male and female journalists alike.

The UN body said that although the Taliban have re-activated a national Media Violations Commission to liaise with journalists, its lack of independence and scant effectiveness need to be addressed.

According to UNAMA, the legal framework for the media also remains unclear, and journalists are forced to navigate unclear and often arbitrary boundaries of reporting against an ever-present threat of repression and closure.

The European Parliament member criticised that the Taliban continues to harass female media workers and has imposed severe restrictions on female journalists in the country.

Neumann added that the Taliban continues to press women to wear masks during TV appearances and said that female journalists are only allowed to interview women for TV and radio programmes.

However, according to Neumann, male Taliban intelligence operatives occasionally call female reporters, question them, and intimidate and harass them.

With the takeover of Afghanistan by the Taliban in August 2021, the group has imposed many restrictions on media operations and has pressurised female journalists to stop working in Afghan media sector.

He added that they will continue their higher education studies after receiving a bachelor's degree.

Most Taliban members are trained in the religious seminaries of Pakistan and lack professional higher education.

However, the Taliban has appointed most of its members to senior government offices across Afghanistan without any formal professional educational background.