Media: Taliban imposes new ban on female voices on radio in Afghanistan’s Kandahar

The Afghanistan Journalists Centre (AFJC) has said that the Taliban-led Afghan government enforced a new ban on female voices being broadcast on radio in the Kandahar province, a move that has raised significant concerns among journalists and human rights organisations. 

Local authorities in Kandahar issued the directive, which explicitly prohibits the broadcast of female voices during radio programmes, including the airing of messages from women during entertainment shows, Caliber.Az reports per Russian media. 

The document obtained by the AFJC also specifies that all radio station personnel must secure special permission from local authorities before producing any reports in the province.

This new regulation adds to the growing list of restrictions imposed by the Taliban on the media and public life, particularly for women, since the group's return to power in 2021.

Kandahar now joins Helmand province as the second region in Afghanistan where the Taliban has fully banned the broadcasting of female voices on radio.

In 2021, after gaining control over Afghanistan, the Taliban imposed a ban on women appearing in public without wearing the full-body burqa, a garment that covers the body from head to toe. The Taliban justified this measure as necessary to establish an Islamic environment within the country. 

In 2022, Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada suspended education for girls in Afghan universities, introduced a ban on the presence of women in universities, including as teachers, and ordered their removal from positions in all national and international non-governmental organisations.

In 2024, the Taliban leader prohibited girls from appearing in public with exposed faces or any bare body parts, as well as from singing or reading aloud. He promised that Sharia laws would be enforced throughout Afghanistan. By 2025, Afghan media reported that a ban had been introduced in the Herat province, prohibiting women from working as television presenters or hosts, and restricting their access to mosques for communal prayers.

By Naila Huseynova