RSF: Taliban Use Intelligence Unit to Threaten and Repress Journalists
DID Press: Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has said the Taliban are using an intelligence unit known as “Department 015” to monitor, threaten, detain and torture journalists in Afghanistan.
According to the report, which is based on interviews with several Afghan journalists, including individuals who requested anonymity for security reasons, arbitrary arrests, threats, interrogations, physical violence and pressure on media outlets to publish content approved by the Taliban authorities are part of a broader campaign against independent media in the country.
RSF said Department 015, which is affiliated with the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence, began operating after the group returned to power in August 2021. The unit reportedly has agents in Kabul and the provinces who monitor radio and television programmes and other media outlets, while summoning critical journalists for questioning.
According to RSF figures, at least 77 journalists have been arrested and detained since 2021, with detention periods ranging from one week to two years.
The report also contains accounts of torture and mistreatment. A journalist identified by the pseudonym “Farhad” said he was blindfolded after his arrest and taken to an intelligence facility in Kabul. After searching his phone and computer, officials accused him of espionage and spreading propaganda against the Taliban government.
He said intelligence agents subsequently transferred him to Department 015, where he was held in a small cell for two weeks and repeatedly beaten during interrogations.
Another journalist, identified as “Ahmad,” said he was tortured while in detention and transferred to another intelligence unit after losing consciousness from beatings. He alleged that agents took him to a hill at night, placed a gun against his head and threatened to kill him.
The report also documents censorship of television programmes, restrictions on interviews with Taliban critics and the exclusion of women journalists from media activities. According to RSF, media outlets have been required to pledge that they will not broadcast programmes featuring women and men together or interviews with individuals whose views oppose those of Taliban officials.
RSF added that threats against journalists have continued even after some of them left Afghanistan. The organisation also reported that Department 015 monitors social media networks and participates in propaganda campaigns and the dissemination of disinformation.
Another section of the report refers to documents published by several media outlets in September 2026, which are said to have originated from the intelligence directorate. One document reportedly outlines a propaganda and influence operation with a budget of 70.7 million afghanis, equivalent to more than €900,000, and the use of nearly 1,500 social media accounts to support the Taliban and discredit their opponents.
However, Hamdullah Fitrat, the Taliban government’s spokesperson, rejected allegations of arbitrary conduct and unlawful detentions. He told RSF that intelligence agencies, including Department 015, operate in accordance with the law.
The report comes amid repeated warnings from press freedom organisations about growing restrictions on journalists and independent media in Afghanistan since the Taliban takeover.