Taliban bans broadcast of music in Kabul

KABUL: The Taliban in Kabul has banned the broadcast of music in the media.

The Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced on Thursday that the ministry’s ombudsman met with media representatives in Kabul and asked them to refrain from broadcasting music.

Previously, the Taliban had banned media outlets from broadcasting music in other provinces.

This action came as the group forced all media outlets to call the assassination of the Taliban’s Minister of Refugees a “martyrdom”.

“The ombudsman of the Kabul Municipal Department, in corrective meetings with some officials of print and audio media, asked them to refrain from broadcasting music and any content that contradicts Islamic rulings and Afghan culture,” the Ministry of Promotion of Virtue said on Thursday, December 12.

The Taliban had previously banned the media from broadcasting music and entertainment programmes in Khost and several other provinces.

The ban on music broadcasting in Kabul media came as Khalil-ur-Rehman Haqqani, the Taliban’s Minister of Refugee Affairs, was killed in a suicide attack on Wednesday (December 11) and the Taliban’s intelligence agency forced the media outlets to use the word “martyr” when publishing news related to the incident.

Previously, the Taliban’s Ministry of Promotion of Virtue had banned Afghan media outlets from publishing images of living creatures in television programmes.

Since the Taliban came to power, the group has imposed many restrictions on the media and has severely restricted their freedom by issuing various decrees.

Recently, the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice announced that it had shut down Arezoo TV in Kabul for “protecting Islamic values”.

Courtesy: afintl news