On the occasion of the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists, the US Embassy in Afghanistan said that Afghan journalists face threats, violence and intimidation.

The embassy called for the security and protection of journalists from the violence.

November 2 marks the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Earlier, the Afghanistan Journalists Centre announced that the Taliban had arrested at least 220 journalists since August 2021. The centre also added that it recorded 447 incidents of violations of the rights of journalists and media workers during this period.

The US embassy wrote on its social media network X page on Saturday that it stands in solidarity with Afghan journalists who continue to face threats, violence and intimidation in their search for the truth.

The embassy called a free press the cornerstone of a just society, adding, "We must protect those who risk their lives to expose the truth."

The Taliban has extensively violated the rights of the media and journalists since they came to power. Threats, arbitrary arrests, torture of Afghan journalists, and in some cases their mysterious murders are among the cases that have increased significantly in the three years of the Taliban's rule.

In addition, the Taliban recently banned the publication of images of "living beings" within the framework of the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and stopped broadcasting public and private television programmes in more than 10 provinces.