The Taliban General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) has shut down the private radio station Kawoon Ghag, which has been operating in the in eastern Laghman province for about two decades, claiming that it is “property of the government”, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC).

On June 13, Laghman Provincial Intelligence Department members entered the station’s office in the presence of representatives from the local administration and the Information and Culture Department and took it off the air, according to a local source.

The station’s managing director Inqilabi Yousefzai has filed a complaint with the Taliban-run Ministry of Information and Culture, but it has not produced any results.

According to Yousefzai the station was established in 2005 in Mehtarlam, the capital of eastern Laghman province, with financial support from InterNews , and in accordance with an agreement with the local administration, a piece of land was allocated for it and a one-story building was constructed.

He said that the radio holds licenses from the Ministries of Information and Culture, Communications and Information Technology, and Industry and Commerce. The Ministry of Industry and Commerce’s investment license is issued in the name of Yousafzai, and the Ministry of Communications’ license categorizes the radio as “private”. Yousafzai confirmed that taxes have been paid continuously based on these licenses. However, the license issued by the Ministry of Information and Culture in 2016 lists the Laghman Scientific and Cultural Association as the owner, with Inqilabi Yousefzai serving as the managing director.

Article 4 of the Afghanistan Media Law, stipulates that no natural or legal person can prevent, sanction, censor, or restrict the free activities of news or information media, or interfere in their affairs and publications.

AFJC condemned the shutting down of Kawoon Ghag radio as a clear violation of press freedom and  urged the local Taliban authorities in Laghman to promptly allow for its immediate and unconditional reopening.

The Media Complaints and Violations Commission, led by Khairullah Khairkhah, the Taliban’s acting Minister of Information and Culture, is scheduled to investigate the matter this week.