In a political debate show called Peace Studio on Friday, Taliban gunman, purportedly bodyguards of a guest on the show, stood behind an evidently terrified anchor of news channel Afghan TV, as he said that people should not be scared of the Islamic Emirate and cooperate with it.
A clip of the show was shared on Twitter by BBC journalist Yalda Hakim. It should be remembered that the Taliban had, during its first press conference, pledged to protect press freedom in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan TV - surreal
— Yalda Hakim (@BBCYaldaHakim) August 29, 2021
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
A longer clip was shared by BBC's Kian Sharifi who noted that the Taliban fighter being interviewed "presumably outranks the rest of the lot in the studio".
The programme is called Pardaz. In this longer video, the presenter interviews a Taliban fighter who presumably outranks the rest of the lot in the studio. The presenter switches from Dari to Pashto, which unfortunately I don't speak.pic.twitter.com/qPWexsQd2T
— Kian Sharifi (@KianSharifi) August 29, 2021
In the past few days, multiple reports of trespasses against journalists have come out from war-torn Afghanistan. On August 19, German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle reported that the Taliban shot dead a family member of one of its journalists. In another incident on August 26, a journalist and cameraperson with Afghanistan’s Tolo News were beaten up by the Taliban for "unclear reasons".
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