The bodyguard of the Taliban Director of Information and Culture slapped a local journalist who was covering the funeral of Mawlawi Mujib Rahman Ansari in Herat province, according to the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC). The Taliban authorities, however, denied the claim and labeled it as “propaganda.”
According to the AFJC’s report on Saturday, September 3, the Taliban’s Director of Information and Culture mistreated Ismail Azad, a reporter for the local Peace TV in Herat, and his bodyguard assaulted the reporter twice and slapped him in the face.
Ismail Azad is seen protesting against the action of the Taliban official in Herat and seeking an explanation in the video broadcast of this occurrence. However, Naeem Ul-Haq Haqqani, the Taliban official, carelessly proceeds on his way despite the journalist’s protests.
According to a local source, after Naeemul Haq Haqqani objected to Ismail Azad taking a picture of the burial site, Haqqani’s bodyguard “slapped” the reporter twice in the face.
The Taliban Director of Information and Culture, however, dismissed the allegation that his bodyguard had struck a local reporter in Herat and called it “propaganda.”
“People who want to seek attention and for cases, fabricate such propaganda,” he tweeted. “It is obvious to everyone in Herat how well our administration interacts with the media.”
Only the reporter’s camera was taken down, according to the Taliban official, to avoid overcrowding.
While denouncing what the Taliban official and his bodyguard did to the reporter, the AFJC also stated that by the law of public media, which the Taliban has declared to be enforceable, authorities are not only not permitted to obstruct or place restrictions on the journalist’s work but are also required to support it.
