CFWIJ and WPF are deeply concerned about the protection and safety of Afghan journalist Nahid Askari following the Pakistani government's recent crackdown on Afghan migrants residing in Pakistan.

Taliban officers forcefully enter offices of the Hamisha Bahar outlet, subjecting women journalist participants to threats and verbal harassment, forcing the newsroom to close.

Foreign correspondent Susannah George banned from Afghanistan. The Coalition For Women In Journalism demands the Taliban retracts its decision and allow press to work freely.

Selgay Ehsas, a sports presenter with the independent broadcaster Radio Dost, was exposed to beating and harassment by several men armed with rifles.

Australian journalist Lynne O’ Donnell was forced to denounce the integrity of her work and apologize for her reporting or face a prison term.

The Taliban has released a new media mandate for the country listed in 11 clauses. The stipulations are vague and precariously open to interpretation, posing further risk to the media. The Taliban’s rise has affected the lives of women journalists, activists, and other social workers in the country by prohibiting them from working. As several Afghan women journalists have managed to flee, many still plead for help while evading the Taliban’s watch.

A woman journalist was beaten and her equipment was broken by the Taliban forces while covering the women’s demonstrators at Dasht-e-Barchi. The Coalition For Women In Journalism (CFWIJ) is extremely alarmed by the rapidly deteriorating situation in the country. We urge the Taliban leadership to allow women journalists and all-female employees to continue their work.

Female anchor Beheshta Arghand left Afghanistan due to the deteriorating political conditions in the country. Arghand came into public view after interviewing Maulvi Abdulhaq Hemad, a high ranking Taliban representative earlier in August for TOLO News. The interview got international attention since this was the first time a Taliban representative had given an interview to an Afghan woman journalist.

Journalist Stefanie Glinski and nine other journalists were detained by the United States Armed Forces at Kabul airport. They were intercepted before they could continue into the city. Despite the journalists wanting to stay in Kabul and arranging transport between the airport and the city, the U.S. forces deported the journalists. The marines allegedly pushed journalists onto an airplane that was meant for vulnerable Afghans looking to flee.

The threatened yet resilient Afghan women journalists shared stories of despair, fear, and silence as The Coalition For Women In Journalism was flooded by applications for assistance. With a tireless team effort and sincere commitment to our women journalists on the ground, we have managed to relocate more than 30 at-risk individuals so far. The bustling Afghan media that once thrived even amidst the worst of threats is now finding it hard to survive under Taliban rule.

Shabnam Dawran, a broadcaster at state-run news channel Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), was denied entry to work. In a video message Shabnam shared with the private news network, TOLO News, she alleged the Taliban barred her from entering the news station and told her to “go home”. Shabnam was dressed in a hijab and presented her work ID, but was not allowed into the Kabul-based network. Another female presenter, Khadija Amin, was instructed to go home and wait when she tried to return to work on August 18.

The withdrawal of the US troops from Afghanistan after the failure of their nation-building experiment in the region that began two decades ago, and the subsequent Taliban takeover of Kabul has resulted in widespread fear across the country. Several journalists, news media organizations, activists, non-government organizations, women and minority groups now fear a threat to their lives and seek asylum elsewhere.