Press Releases

In Afghanistan, Internews-Supported Radio Station is Torched by Taliban

Internews Afghanistan Broadcasters in the studio of an Internews-supported radio station in Wardak Province, December 2004

(August 14, 2007) Taliban fighters burned down a community radio station built and supported by Internews Network in Afghanistan in the early hours of Sunday, August 12 in the course of an attack on the district headquarters that left one Taliban member dead. A group of ten to twelve Taliban fighters descended on the station, Radio Yawali Ghag (“Voice of Unity”). The fighters tied up and beat the guard, abducting him. They then set fire to the station, and all the radio equipment was destroyed.

“They took one computer and the guard with them, but burned down everything else,” said Hazratuddin Nosrat, manager of the radio station, which is based in the district of Syad Abad in central Maidan Wardak Province. The abducted guard was found alive several hours later in the mountains.

Radio Yawali Ghag is a locally owned and operated community radio station and an affiliate of Salam Watandar, a national news radio network produced by Internews Network our of Kabul. The station was broadcasting close to ten hours a day, including four hours of Salam Watandar programming.

The radio station board had adopted an editorial policy in line with the local culture. “We had appropriate programs,” said Nosrat. “In Syad Abad we have to strictly adhere with Islamic principles. Since its establishment the radio station has managed good community relations and was never threatened by the Taliban or any other group.”

The Afghanistan Independent Journalist Association (AIJA) has condemned the arson attack on the radio station and said they were investigating the incident.

According Zahir Bahand, a Salam Watandar reporter in Wardak province, between eighty to one hundred Taliban fighters attacked the Sayed Abad district headquarters at about 2:00 a.m. on Sunday. A firefight with police lasted for three hours, ending when police reinforcements arrived from Kabul and the fighters fled. One Taliban member was found dead on the scene.

Jan McArthur, Country Director of Internews Afghanistan, said, "This reflects increasing insurgent activity in the district of Syad Abad and in Afghanistan in general. This is the second partner station of Internews to be torched in one year."

In August of 2006, Radio Istiqlal, a locally owned and operated station built by Internews in Logar province, was deliberately destroyed by a firebomb.

McArthur said that if security permitted, Internews would send a delegation to Radio Yawali Ghag in a week to conduct an assessment. "We will also investigate 'repeater' options in this area to enable the community to have access to important local and national information via radio, without risking the lives of radio staff and volunteers, until the region is stable," she said.

With grants from the US Agency for International Development, Internews has built 28 independent radio stations across the provinces of Afghanistan, with 12 more planned over the next two years. In many communities of Afghanistan, these Internews-supported stations are the only source of outside news and information.

In Afghanistan, Internews has also provided equipment and training to local journalists; produced independent radio content with local journalists; and established a satellite distribution system for radio programming that reaches a majority of the population.