Afghan radio station closes down following Taliban threats

Director of the station received phone calls as well as written warning notes

AFGHANISTAN-TALIBAN/ Afghan women, clad in burqas, walk in Herat province, Afghanistan | Reuters

A local radio station in eastern Afghanistan had to be shutdown after it received multiple threats from the area's Taliban commander. The said station, called Samaa, got into trouble for employing women.

According to Ramez Azimi, director of the station in the city of Ghazni, he received phone calls as well as written warning notes purportedly from the Taliban commander.

The Taliban threatened them, according to Azimi because three of the station's 16 employees are women. The Taliban are against women's rights to education and work.

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.

The incident comes is in wake of recent attempts by Taliban in discussing a peace deal with the United States and an attempt of them re-joining mainstream society. Samaa has been broadcasting political, religious, social and entertainment programs since 2013.