Taliban Restricts Media Coverage of Pakistani Airstrikes in Afghanistan

Pakistani media have reported that the Taliban administration has banned media coverage of areas targeted by Pakistani warplanes in Paktika and Nangarhar provinces. According to these reports, journalists have only been allowed to visit a single house in the Bihsud district of Nangarhar, and access to other areas has been denied.

Pakistan Radio announced on Monday, February 22, that residents of Paktika, Khost, and Nangarhar provinces stated that following the airstrikes, Taliban forces have sealed off the affected areas. According to these residents, movement in and out of these areas has been severely restricted.

Meanwhile, requests by journalists to visit the Khogyani district in Nangarhar, Barmal district in Paktika, and some other locations have been rejected by the Taliban administration. This move comes at a time when free media access to incident sites is considered a fundamental principle for transparency and reporting in security-related events.

Pakistan’s Ministry of Information has stated that seven hideouts of what it described as “terrorists” were targeted in these strikes. The ministry also claimed that around 70 militants were killed as a result of these operations; however, this claim has yet to be independently verified.

Reports indicate that the Taliban has only granted filming access to one victim family, which is said to have lost 18 members in the attack. Restrictions on free media coverage in such incidents have raised concerns about obtaining accurate and impartial information regarding casualties and damages inflicted.