TV Channels, Radio Stations Suspend Work In Southern Afghanistan Amid Taliban Offensive

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 03rd August, 2021) At least four tv and 11 radio stations were compelled to shut down in southern Afghanistan as the Taliban (banned in Russia as a terrorist group) advance, the Afghan 1TV news reported on Tuesday.

The suspension of several television and radio stations was brought on a by Taliban offensive in Lashkargah, the capital of the country's largest province of Helmand, the broadcaster wrote on Twitter, citing the Ministry of Information and Culture.

In Lashkargah, 40 civilians were killed and 118 injured in clashes between security forces and Taliban militants in the last 24 hours, as the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported on Tuesday.

The Taliban have intensified their offensive after international troops began withdrawing from the country in May. The troop withdrawal was one of the points of the agreement the Taliban and the United States reached in Doha in February of last year.