New York, May 12, 2025—Taliban authorities in southeastern Ghazni Province must immediately and unconditionally release journalist Sulaiman Rahil, who was detained on May 5 by intelligence agents, the Committee to Protect Journalists said Monday.
“Sulaiman Rahil is the latest of many Afghan journalists to be swept up by the notorious General Directorate of Intelligence without explanation or charge,” said CPJ Asia Program Coordinator Beh Lih Yi. “The Taliban continue to show zero tolerance for independent journalists who report anything other than the group’s strictly censored narratives. The Taliban’s intelligence agency is attempting to control the media through fear and to prevent any honest reporting about the difficulties of life in Afghanistan today.”
Rahil, director of the local, independent Radio Khushal, was detained in Ghazni city after publishing a video on Facebook highlighting the plight of two impoverished women, according to the exiled Afghanistan Journalists Center watchdog group. CPJ was unable to locate the video.
Two days prior to his arrest, Rahil had also published a video on Facebook alleging that the provincial head of the Taliban-run National Radio and Television of Afghanistan had insulted him, according to the independent Afghanistan Women’s Voice website.
Rahil has a following of 49,000 on Facebook, where he regularly shares updates about daily events in the city.
Radio Khushal is an FM station that covers religious, cultural, and political issues across the province and regularly shares news on its Facebook page, with 72,000 followers.
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid told CPJ via messaging app that he was not aware of Sulaiman Rahil’s detention.
This content originally appeared on Committee to Protect Journalists and was authored by Committee to Protect Journalists.