Unprecedented Admission by the Taliban Regarding the Killing of Journalists
Mohammad Omar Mokhles, a former Taliban commander in Paktia Province, publicly acknowledged during his farewell ceremony that journalists had been deliberately targeted for killing. In his remarks, he denied the civilian and professional status of journalists, labeling them “traitors,” and described their pursuit and killing as intentional acts. He further acknowledged that many journalists survived only because they managed to escape the country.

During the event in Paktia Province, the Taliban commander stated: “We were killing those journalists. They were not journalists; they were traitors. We pursued them and killed them, but they managed to escape, stay alive, and reach their masters.”

The statement constitutes a rare public admission of intent and practice regarding violence against journalists, articulated in an official ceremonial setting and framed as morally and politically justified conduct.

This entry documents an explicit, public admission by a Taliban official of an organizational intent to kill journalists, articulated as part of a farewell address and framed as a justified act against alleged “traitors.” The statement reflects the normalization of lethal violence against members of the press as a matter of policy rather than isolated misconduct, with retrospective acknowledgment of pursuit and killing and regret only that many targets escaped. The rhetoric collapses journalism into treason, reinforcing the Taliban’s broader strategy of criminalizing independent expression and legitimizing violence against media workers through ideological dehumanization. While the statement does not constitute a formal decree, it provides probative evidence of intent, endorsement, and narrative justification for attacks on journalists within Taliban governance.