General Director of  BNA:
Abdul Khalil Minawi (20151202, 20181217)
Najibullah Shinwari  (20190611)

2. Previous Function Najibullah Shinwari:
Bakhtar News Agency General Director (20190611)

3. Biodata:
Najibullah Shinwari




Background:
Bakhtar News Agency is the official state news agency of the Afghan government, based in Kabul. The agency is a major source of news for all media in Afghanistan, gathering domestic and international news and providing information to outlets. The government had planned to make the agency independent of government control in 2004 before elections. In 2002, Agence France-Presse established a satellite link providing news information to the Bakhtar News Agency.

Established in 1939 by the Government Press Department, it monitors foreign and domestic news before distribution. The English sector of the news distribution was not added until 1992 in order to keep foreign diplomats informed of Afghan news. The Ministry of Culture and Information monitors the agency. Radio Television of Afghanistan (RTA) and Bakhtar News Agency are governmental media. Both of these media agencies have not been upgraded over the last several years. The private media has most of the audience both inside the country and the outside. President Ghani committed to upgrading these agencies to ensure a standard of high quality.(20150812)