NEW YORK: The Afghan Telecom Regulatory Authority (ATRA) suspended 17 broadcast licenses for 14 media outlets on July 22 in eastern Nangarhar, one of Afghanistan’s most populous provinces.

“Taliban officials must immediately reverse their decision to suspend the broadcast licenses of 14 active media outlets in Nangarhar province that collectively reach millions of people,” said Beh Lih Yi, CPJ Asia program coordinator. “The Taliban continues to exert pressure on media outlets to control their programming and broadcasting operations in Afghanistan. They must cease these tactics and allow the independent media to operate freely.”

The order also stipulated that the outlets must renew their licenses and pay any outstanding fees or risk having all the outlet’s licenses revoked, according to CPJ’s review of the order, the exiled Afghanistan Journalists Centre watchdog group, and a journalist who spoke to CPJ on the condition of anonymity.

ATRA is a regulatory body that operates as part of the Taliban’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.