Mujeeb Khelwatgar, the head of NAI (a group that supports open media in Afghanistan) in a video message announced the temporary suspension of this organization's activities in Afghanistan.

Khelwatgar stressed that no representative will be representing the organization in Afghanistan anymore.

“The leadership of the NAI in their latest meeting reached an agreement to halt the activity of NAI for temporary period of time in Afghanistan,” he said.

NAI was operating in Afghanistan for nearly two decades.

“If one of these organizations are being closed or halt their work. It means that a major impact and a major harm is inflicted to the media society of Afghanistan,” said Abdul Qadeem Wiar, head of the Afghan Journalist Safety Committee.

This comes as the journalists expressed concerns, saying that suspension of organizations supporting the media will have a negative impact on the activities of the media.

“The presence of an organization was a hope for the media and journalists and its suspension is a bad news for the media society,” said Daud Mubarak Oghlu, a journalist.

“I don’t consider the suspension of such an institution a good move. I call on the government to support such organizations which are supporting the media,” said Sadam Hussein Bashash, a journalist.

Based on the statistics of the Union of Afghanistan’s National Journalists, nearly 80 TV channels, over 200 radio stations and nearly 10 news agencies as well as 14 printing services are currently active in Afghanistan.

Also, more than 270 media organizations have suspended their operations after the Islamic Emirate came to power.