Human Rights Watch Calls for Protection of Hazaras in Afghanistan

Stephane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said at a press conference that António Guterres stressed on the protection of civilians in Afghanistan.

He said at the press conference on Friday that Guterres offered his condolences to the families of the victims of the attack.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) also expressed sympathy with the families of the victims in a statement on Friday and called for the Taliban's investigation and accountability in this regard.

At least 14 people were killed and four others wounded in Thursday's armed attack on Hazara civilians in the village of Qarodal, an area between Ghor and Daikundi provinces.

Hours after the attack, ISIS claimed responsibility for the attack, saying that 15 people were killed in the attack.

In a statement, the NRF said that they attacked a Taliban patrol in the Hodkhel area of the city. Earlier, two local sources in Kabul had reported an explosion in the area.

The NRF added that a vehicle ferrying Taliban members was also destroyed in the attack, and no NRF personnel were harmed.

Taliban officials have not yet commented on the incident.

A video clip released by media outlets associated with the National Resistance Front captures the sound of an explosion.

In order to counter the Taliban's interference, Afghanistan International has started its satellite broadcast on another frequency.

Rahmatullah Nabil, the former head of Afghanistan's National Directorate of Security (NDS), wrote on the social media network X that the Taliban's jamming of Afghanistan International TV broadcasts "shows their fear of a free media" and a direct attack on freedom of expression and people's right to access information. Nabil added that the Taliban has now resorted to censorship instead of listening to criticism.

Nabil called Afghanistan International a "key voice and a vital platform" for Afghans and a platform to strengthen voices inside Afghanistan. Despite the Taliban's efforts to silence independent media, Afghans will have access to accurate information as the free media fights, he said.

In response to the Taliban's action against Afghanistan International TV's broadcasts, Daoud Naji, head of the political committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), said that the use of jamming to suppress the media is "a sign of the Taliban's extreme fear" of voices and protests that have gone beyond the level of society and ordinary people and have now reached the Taliban's inner layers.

Naji added that media outlets operating in Afghanistan under the Taliban's control cannot comply with any of the media standards due to the fear of the group.

The head of the political committee of the Afghanistan Freedom Front emphasised that the use of technology for censorship is a failed experiment that has not yielded results in other countries.

On the other hand, Abdullah Khanjani, head of the political office of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, said that the exiled media, especially Afghanistan International TV, is one of the most important achievements after Afghanistan fell into the pit of ignorance and regression.

Abdullah Khanjani stressed that the Taliban has suffered from a content crisis and their systematic attacks on Afghanistan International TV are a sign of the Taliban's psychological failure in public opinion and the group's moral decline in the public psyche.

According to this letter, Durrani's tenure ended on Tuesday, September 10.

Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif named Asif Durrani as his special envoy for Afghanistan in June last year, and Durrani held that position for about a year and three months.

This veteran Pakistani diplomat, who is fluent in Persian and Pashto, travelled to Kabul several times during his mission and met with Taliban officials. During his mission, he also participated in meetings of representatives of the countries of the region hosted by the United Nations in Doha.

Pakistan's relations with the Taliban were tense during Durrani's tenure due to the spread of insecurity in Pakistan and border disputes.

AFJC expressed grave concern over the incident and urged the Taliban to allow the country's citizens to access the media freely and without restrictions.

A statement by Afghanistan International TV recently said that since September 5, 2024, the Taliban government has clearly violated the free flow of information and freedom of the press by jamming Afghanistan International's satellite frequencies.

Earlier too, the Taliban government tightened restrictions on Afghanistan International and the Taliban's Ministry of Information and Culture had accused the media outlet of "violating the privacy of citizens and legal persons, character assassination, distortion of information, and promoting ethnic, linguistic, and regional prejudices”. The group banned any kind of cooperation with this media outlet.

AFJC stressed that the continued restrictions on the Afghanistan International Network and the disruption of the audience's access to the programmes of this media outlet inside the country is a violation of the country's mass media law.