The Taliban have banned the broadcasting of images and video interviews with local officials in Balkh province, forcing state television to suspend programming and switch to radio, the Afghanistan Journalists Centre said.

The order brings to 21 the number of provinces where restrictions on showing living beings are enforced.

The watchdog, citing an informed source, said Taliban governor Yousuf Wafa held a meeting on September 8 with local officials, including Mullah Mohammad Mohammadi, head of the state-run Radio Television Afghanistan in Balkh. Wafa reportedly stressed that publishing images of living beings is prohibited and instructed officials not to take part in video recordings or interviews.

A local source said state television in Balkh stopped airing images immediately after the order and now broadcasts only on radio. The ban was reportedly issued after several Taliban officials travelled to Kandahar and met with the group’s leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada.

Since the adoption of the Taliban’s “Vice and Virtue” law in August last year, similar restrictions have been imposed in 20 other provinces, including Kandahar, Takhar, Badghis, Helmand, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Farah, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Nimroz, Jawzjan, Zabul, Parwan, Kunduz, Bamiyan, Daikundi, Faryab, Panjshir, Laghman and Sar-e-Pul.

The Afghanistan Journalists Centre condemned the move as a violation of fundamental freedoms of expression and independent media. It warned the restrictions would harm media operations, jeopardise journalists’ safety and undermine the public’s right to information.

The group urged the Taliban to review and revoke the directive along with other decrees that contradict Afghanistan’s media laws.