Afghanistan suspends BBC radio broadcasts

Afghan authorities have suspended the BBC’s FM radio broadcasts across Afghanistan, the British broadcaster said on Tuesday, adding that it was working with them to resolve the situation.

“Millions of people across Afghanistan rely on the BBC for accurate news and information and we are working with the authorities to address the situation,” a BBC spokesperson said in a statement.

Khubib Ghufran, the spokesperson for the Afghan Taliban government’s Information and Culture ministry, said that the BBC’s activities had been suspended for the “time being due to repeated violations committed” by it. He did not elaborate on the violations.

Despite losing their local FM frequencies, the BBC World Service said that it was continuing to broadcast its Pashto, Dari, and English programming to the Afghan public through shortwave radio, mediumwave radio, satellite television, and online digital platforms.

The sudden suspension of the BBC’s FM radio transmissions by the Taliban government represents a significant escalation in their ongoing tightening of media censorship. Source: The Dawn.