The BBC's TV news bulletins have been taken off-air in Afghanistan after the Taliban 'ordered our TV partners to remove international broadcasters from their airwaves'.
The corporation has called on the Taliban to 'reverse their decision', claiming the service reaches six million Afghans weekly.
The Taliban were ousted in 2001 by a US-led coalition, but swept back into power last August following America's chaotic end to 20 years of war in Afghanistan.
On Sunday, the BBC announced its TV news bulletin in Pashto, Persian and Uzbek had been taken off-air in Afghanistan following a Taliban order.
BBC TV programming taken off air in Afghanistan, after Taliban orders local channels not to broadcast content from international partners
— BBC News (World) (@BBCWorld) March 28, 2022
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Tarik Kafala, head of languages, BBC World Service, said: 'This is a worrying development at a time of uncertainty and turbulence for the people of Afghanistan.
'More than six million Afghans consume the BBC's independent and impartial journalism on TV every week and it is crucial they are not denied access to it in the future.
'We call on the Taliban to reverse their decision and allow our TV partners to return the BBC's news bulletins to their airwaves immediately.'
This comes after the Taliban excluded girls from returning to secondary school and replaced Afghanistan's women's ministry with an all-male 'vice and virtue' department.
The Islamists excluded girls from returning to secondary school in Afghanistan on Saturday but ordered boys and male teachers back to the classroom.
The hardline group ousted the US-backed government in August last year, promising a softer brand of rule than their repressive reign in the 1990s, when women were mostly banned from education and work.
But the diktat from the education ministry was the latest move from the new government to threaten women's rights.
'All male teachers and students should attend their educational institutions'
This article has been adapted from its original source.
