Afghan radio station closes down following Taliban threats

An elderly Afghan man listens to a radio early in the morning in Kabul on July 16, 2015. (File/AFP)

• Ramez Azimi, director of the Samaa station in the city of Ghazni, the capital of eastern Ghazni province, says he received phone calls as well as written warning notes
• The station was closed four days ago; its third closure in the past four years

KABUL, Afghanistan: The head of a local radio station in eastern Afghanistan says it was shut down after repeated threats from the area’s Taliban commander.
Ramez Azimi, director of the Samaa station in the city of Ghazni, the capital of eastern Ghazni province, says he received phone calls as well as written warning notes purportedly from the Taliban commander.
Azimi says the Taliban, who control several districts in Ghazni province, threatened them because three of the station’s 16 employees are women. The Taliban are against women’s rights to education and work.
He told The Associated Press on Tuesday that the station was closed four days ago. It was its third closure in the past four years.
Zabihullah Mujahid, a Taliban spokesman, denied the insurgents had threatened Samaa.