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Afghan Media Outlets Protest Curtailed Access to Information

Associated Press

   KABUL - An Afghan media watchdog urged the government on Wednesday to
   heed a demand for more media freedoms after 30 local media outlets said
   in a joint statement that authorities were increasingly curtailing
   their access to information.

   Sayed Ikram Afzali, the head of[1] Integrity Watch Afghanistan, said
   there is a good law in place guaranteeing the media's ability to work
   and access information but that the government has failed to provide
   enough funding and institutional support to implement the law.

   The joint media statement, unveiled at a protest rally in Kabul on
   Tuesday, comes against the backdrop of relentless violence across the
   country. Afghan forces, backed by U.S. allies, continue to fight the
   Taliban, who today control or hold sway over nearly half of
   Afghanistan.

   The Taliban stage near-daily attacks targeting government forces and
   officials, as well as those seen loyal to the government, and scores of
   civilians get killed in the crossfire, as well as in anti-Taliban
   operations by the Afghan forces. The U.N. has called for all sides in
   the protracted conflict to take better care to avoid civilian
   casualties.

References

   1. file://localhost/tmp/lynxXXXXe4ac7a/Integrity%20Watch%20Afghanistan

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