The Taliban has lifted a three-week ban on Radio Begum, an Afghan radio station run by women.
The station confirmed it resumed broadcasting on February 22, 2025, after being granted due permission.
The ban was first imposed on February 4 after Taliban authorities arrested two employees and accused the station of cooperating with an overseas TV channel. The Taliban ordered the suspension of operations of Radio Begum for “unauthorized provision” of content and programming to an overseas TV channel.
Radio Begum launched on International Women’s Day in March 2021, just five months before the Taliban took control of Afghanistan during the chaotic withdrawal of U.S. and NATO troops from the region. The station’s sister satellite channel, Begum TV, operates from France and broadcasts content on Afghanistan's school curriculum from grades seven through 12. The Taliban banned education for women and girls in the country after sixth grade.
The Information and Culture Ministry said the suspension was lifted after "repeated" requests from Radio Begum to resume its broadcast. The ministry said the station promised to follow certain conditions. The station can continue broadcasting "in accordance with the principles of journalism and the regulations of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, and to avoid any violations in the future," the ministry's statement said.
It was created on 8 March 2021 to coincide with International Women's Day by Afghan entrepreneur and journalist Hamida Aman, and is run by Begum Organization for Women (called BOW) which had been founded on 8 December 2020. It broadcasts live and continuously via both FM and satellite, to Kabul and more rural surroundings, covering approximately three quarters of the country. On 8 March 2024 its sister broadcaster Begum TV was launched in Paris with a grant from Malala Fund,to provide video courses covering the Afghan school curriculum from 7th to 12th Grade by satellite.
Begum means princess or a woman of high status or responsibility.
