A video of an Afghan news anchor surrounded by Taliban gunmen has been circulating on social media. The video garnered massive attention on social media on Sunday.
The video was originally shared by BBC reporter and anchorperson Yalda Hakim. It showed an Afghan television news anchor purportedly from a local news channel reading out a statement from the Taliban. At least eight gunmen have surrounded the news anchor in which he is asking the Afghans not be to be afraid of the Taliban.
The video, however, has raised questions and suspicions on the claims of the Afghan Taliban to practice moderation and freedom of media.
“Afghanistan TV – surreal This is what a political debate now looks like on Afghan TV, Taliban foot soldiers watching over the host. The presenter talks about the collapse of the Ghani govt & says the Islamic Emirate says the Afghan people should not be afraid #Afghanistan,” wrote the BBC reporter Hakim on Twitter.
Afghanistan TV – surreal
This is what a political debate now looks like on Afghan TV, Taliban foot soldiers watching over the host. The presenter talks about the collapse of the Ghani govt & says the Islamic Emirate says the Afghan people should not to be afraid #Afghanistan pic.twitter.com/oEverVgLOE
— Yalda Hakim (@SkyYaldaHakim) August 29, 2021
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The video garnered hundreds of comments on Twitter. A few journalists said that there has been a violent clampdown on media in Afghanistan. Others said that the Taliban seems to be retracting their promise of allowing media freedom in Afghanistan.
Others said that they could have only believed in the statement of ‘don’t be afraid’ if there were no gunmen behind the news anchor.
In another video, an Afghan Shia Hazara girl questioned a Taliban fighter about girls’ education in Afghanistan. The member of the Taliban said that the senior leadership will decide on the matter, however, they expect that girls will be allowed to attend school and women will be allowed to work according to the Islamic rules.
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https://twitter.com/paykhar/status/1432164354615615492?s=20
The women said that they are not afraid of the Taliban. Women and other communities just want them to let them do their work.