Taliban jams Afghan TV station 'with Iran's help'

Regime has allegedly used Tehran technology to block respected independent outlet broadcasting into the country

Taliban security officials at a checkpoint, in Kabul, Afghanistan. The regime has used jamming technology possibly from Iran to stop an independent Afghan channel broadcasting into the country. EPA

The Taliban has jammed the only remaining free press television station covering Afghanistan potentially with Iran’s assistance, The National can disclose.

In the last week, the group have blocked broadcasts of Afghan International TV (AITV) into the country, denying people the last outlet to uncensored information.

The jamming began on September 5 in what the channel called “a blatant violation of the free flow of information and a direct assault on press freedom”.

A ground station inside Afghanistan is sending the disruptive signals back to AITV’s broadcasting satellite, violating international regulations established by the International Telecommunication Union. The National has contacted the Taliban for comment.

An insider at Iran International, the London-based sister channel of the station, disclosed that a month before the incident a source inside Afghanistan said the Taliban had “acquired the equipment and expertise for orbital jamming, with the intention of using it against us”.

“We do not have information on where or how the Taliban acquired the knowledge and technology, but we know that the Iranian regime supports the Taliban, and as mentioned earlier, Iran has the necessary expertise,” the source said.

Previously Iran International itself had experienced satellite jamming during the Mahsa Amini protests from 2022 to 2023, from a ground station in Karaj near Tehran.

AITV was launched on the day the Taliban took over the country on August 15, 2021 and soon became the most watched channel for news for its extensive coverage. Since then the station has been seen as a crucial outlet for reliable, unbiased news for the Afghan people following the extremists' victory.

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But in May this year the Taliban banned people from co-operating with it with the Ministry of Information saying that “participating in discussions and facilitating the broadcast of this media outlet in public places is prohibited”.

AITV vowed that despite the attempts “to stifle free speech” it would “explore all available avenues” to overcome the jamming to ensure its report can be heard inside Afghanistan.

“The Taliban's jamming of our satellite signal is a desperate attempt to silence the voice of the Afghan people,” said the station’s executive editor Harun Najafizada.

He added that it was part of a “systemic campaign to suppress independent media” as the Taliban fears “a well-informed populace” while it keeps its grip on power with censorship and propaganda.

The US State Department also condemned the action stating that the country had “regressed into one of the most restrictive environments for journalists”.

“It is an enormous loss that under the Taliban, Afghanistan has gone from having the best record in the region on freedom of the press to having one of the worst,” it said. “And it is the Afghan people who suffer the most from this regression.”