According to a report by Tolo News, Radio Nehad and Paikan TV, both in Balkh province, have stopped broadcasting due to economic challenges and existing restrictions on media in the province.

Radio Nehad has operated for 16 years and Paikan TV for around five years.

Following their shutdown, at least 25 people have become jobless.

According to some media-supporting organizations, more than 300 media outlets have shut down in Afghanistan in the past two years and over 5,000 journalists have lost their jobs.

“Lack of beneficial support by the media-supporting organizations caused 25 (media workers), including 18 men and 7 women, to become jobless, they were working in these two media outlets,” Sayed Mohammad Yazdan, director of Radio Nehad , told Tolo News.

The station had also stopped broadcasting for a while last year due to a fire incident.

This comes as the Afghanistan’s Journalist Safety Committee for the northern zone said that they were unable to address the economic challenges of these two media outlets.

In a statement, the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) said: “We express great concern over the closure of Nehad Radio station and the continuation of the process of closure of free media and the shrinking of the country’s media community,” “We call on the “Islamic Emirate” to allow free media to work without fear and intimidation and to ensure that media and journalists can freely cover events of public importance.”

The head of the department of Information and Culture of Balkh, Ata Mohammad Saho, said that they have not imposed “any restriction on the operation of media.”