KABUL -- Afghanistan's already limited space for journalism is narrowing further, with Taliban officials increasingly ordering reporters not to take photographs.
In Kandahar province, Gov. Mullah Shireen Akhund told officials in a handout issued Feb. 18 to ensure journalists "refrain from taking pictures during both official and unofficial meetings, as the potential harm outweighs any potential benefits." Journalists in different parts of the country say they fear visual reporting will be banned entirely, as it was during the previous Taliban regime from 1996 to 2001.