KABUL, Afghanistan — Afghan authorities have suspended the British Broadcasting Corporation’s FM radio broadcasts across Afghanistan, the broadcaster said Tuesday, October 13.

Reuters reported the nationwide suspension at 8:46 a.m. UTC, citing a BBC statement. The BBC said millions of people in Afghanistan depend on its news and that it is working with authorities to resolve the shutdown.

Reuters later identified Afghanistan’s Ministry of Information and Culture as the issuing authority. Ministry spokesperson Khubib Ghufran said the BBC’s activities were suspended “for the time being” over what he called “repeated violations,” but he did not describe those alleged violations. The ministry has not said when or how the order was delivered, cited a legal basis or given a timetable for lifting it. The ministry has not identified the affected FM frequencies or relay partners. The BBC has since said its Pashto, Dari and English output remains available on shortwave and medium-wave radio, online and via satellite. The broadcaster also says its news and educational programming reaches more than 20% of Afghanistan’s adult population each week, according to a BBC News report republished by AOL. The ministry has not released the order or detailed the conduct behind its allegation.

The disruption is consequential because FM has been a key way the BBC reaches audiences inside Afghanistan. In evidence submitted to the United Kingdom Parliament in 2023, the BBC described a distribution network that included private radio partners across Afghanistan’s provinces and a dedicated English-language FM relay in Kabul. That older filing establishes the importance of the BBC’s terrestrial distribution, but it does not verify which transmitters are offline today.

Questions that remain

  • What specific conduct does the Ministry of Information and Culture mean by “repeated violations,” and what legal authority supports the suspension?
  • When and how was the order delivered to the BBC and its Afghan relay partners?
  • Which stations and frequencies have stopped carrying BBC programming?
  • Is the suspension temporary, and what conditions would restore service?
  • How many listeners can practically reach the BBC’s remaining shortwave, medium-wave, satellite and online services?

Radio News Now will update this report when the BBC or Afghan authorities provide additional verified details.