Taliban condemns on live coverage ban

They banned music, television and education for girls during their rule of Afghanistan, but the Taliban on Wednesday condemned a government ban on live broadcasts of their own attacks.

The Western-backed government has banned live coverage of militant assaults in a bid to prevent the Taliban exploiting television news to send messages to their operatives.

As the measure -- which applies to domestic and international media -- was criticised by journalists and rights groups, the Taliban joined the fray, calling it an attack on free speech.

"This totally undermines freedom of the press and expression and cannot be justified by any means," Taliban spokesman Yousuf Ahmadi told AFP.

The Taliban "respects all those media which are free and independent and support their rights," he said, reading from a prepared statement.

"We invite them to cover all our activities against the invaders.

"Imposing a ban on free media means the government is trying to cover its failures. They have failed... and are trying to hide that," he said.

The Taliban controlled Afghanistan from 1996 until their extreme Islamist regime was overthrown by a US-led invasion in 2001.

While in power, they banned television, films, the Internet, video games, snooker halls, kites, music and any images of living things.

Since being overthrown, however, they have proved so adept at public relations that US military intelligence officers have said countering Taliban propaganda is one of the main challenges of the counter-insurgency.

The militants have their own website, produce their own films, use mobile radio stations, and maintain close relations with Afghan and overseas media, regularly calling with comment and news.

An Afghan official said live television coverage of attacks -- such as that in Kabul last Friday that killed 16 people -- could alert militant organisations to police actions against their operatives on the ground.

Afghanistan's constitution guarantees freedom of speech and media and the effort to curb coverage of attacks drew criticism from the United States, Kabul's top foreign backer.

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and other US officials "are concerned and will make our support of free access by the press clear to the government", said Richard Holbrooke, US envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan.

"We don't like restrictions on the press. My whole career has been devoted to supporting that," he added.

Afghan journalists and rights organisations slammed the ban as censorship and a contravention of the constitution, despite officials saying it would protect reporters covering attacks.

The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists said it was up to news organisations to decide what they report.

"The Afghan authorities should allow reporters to work freely," said CPJ deputy director Robert Mahoney.

The Afghan National Directorate for Security (NDS) refused to comment when contacted by AFP. A spokesman said only that media organisations would be "invited in small groups to meetings and the new rule will explained to them".

Afghanistan's Pajhwok news agency said some organisations -- including the BBC and Al-Jazeera -- had already been briefed.

The measure echoes an attempt to ban coverage of Taliban attacks during elections last August, when international media were threatened with expulsion and Afghans with confiscation of equipment.