Taliban state media censors UN women’s chief from meeting with Muttaqi

Taliban-run national radio and television censored the image of Roza Otunbayeva, the UN Secretary-General’s Special Representative and head of UNAMA, in its coverage of her meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Taliban’s acting foreign minister, in Kabul, and published only a picture of Muttaqi. The meeting took place on Sunday in Kabul, and in the original photo, both were visible on either side of a table, but state media cropped the image so that the UNAMA chief’s face was removed.

Taliban state television said in its headline that Muttaqi and the UN special representative had stressed the need for a “balanced reflection of the real situation in Afghanistan.” The Taliban foreign ministry said the talks covered cooperation with the United Nations to address the needs of displaced people, coordination of aid and support for development projects. The use of accurate information, coordination with Taliban departments, and issues including climate change, anti-narcotics efforts and the Doha process were also among the topics discussed.

This is not the first time a Taliban-controlled outlet has censored the image of a female UN official. Earlier, on 18 January 2024, the image of Roza Otunbayeva, the former head of UNAMA, was also removed from coverage of her meeting with the Taliban agriculture minister. On 1 August 2025, the voices of female journalists at Muttaqi’s news conference were also cut by state media, and their presence and questions were ignored.

While the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice has banned women’s voices in the media, this instruction is not being followed across all Taliban-run institutions. Roza Fatema, a Bangladeshi diplomat with more than 30 years of experience, recently began work as head of UNAMA in Afghanistan. She replaced Roza Otunbayeva and previously served as Bangladesh’s ambassador to the United Nations and as the organization’s deputy secretary-general.