TV coverage of combat operations banned by Afghan government

Zimbabwe News.Net
Wednesday 3rd March, 2010

The Afghan government has told local television stations not to broadcast live coverage of militant attacks.

The ban has been placed on domestic and international news organisations.

While Afghanistan's constitution guarantees freedom of speech for the media, the government has claimed the ban is to prevent the Taliban from exploiting television news to their advantage.

Officials said live television coverage of attacks could alert militant organisations to police actions which follow an incident and place police, journalists and rescue teams in danger.

They said concerns about the reporting of the progress of police operations had led to the ban.

There was an earlier attempt to ban coverage of Taliban attacks during elections in August, when international reporters were threatened with expulsion.

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