AFGHAN RADIO STATION EMPLOYING WOMEN REOPENS

Sun 30 January 2022:

According to an employee, Afghan radio station Hareem Zan in the province of Badakhshan in the country’s north-east resumed operations after closing owing to fear of the Taliban.

The official explanation offered by management at the time for the shutdown was financial difficulties, but the true reason was fear of the Taliban, according to the source. According to the employee, Hareem Zan’s activities was restored because the new provincial government did not prohibit women’s voices on radio.

The Taliban banned earlier musical compositions and female voices on television and radio stations in Kandahar province.

Before the Taliban toppled the Western-backed government in August, the economy relied heavily on foreign aid. But with the international community wary of the group and the United States imposing sanctions on some of its leaders, that support has all but disappeared.

The United Nations estimates nearly 23 million Afghans – about 55 percent of the population – are facing extreme levels of hunger, with nearly nine million at risk of famine as winter takes hold.

Taliban officials say they are aware of the problems facing the poor, which they say stem partly from the effects of more than four decades of conflict and mismanagement under the previous government.

They have also repeatedly called on Washington to unblock about $9bn in central bank assets.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES | FILE PHOTO

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