Female journalist who made headlines by interviewing Taliban leader on TV flees Afghanistan

Behesta Arghand, an Afghan female journalist, who made headlines by interviewing a member of the Taliban on television recently, has fled the country. An anchor at TOLO News, Arghand had interviewed a senior Taliban member on 17 August. The interview happened just two days after the group seized power in Kabul. She did not hold back in asking tough questions about the group’s plans for the future and the door-to-door searches carried out by them in Kabul. Talking about the historic interview, Arghand said she did it for Afghan women. It was the first time a Taliban leader was interviewed by a female anchor on an Afghan news network.

NIMA WORAZ: #Kabul Situation Discussed [Pashto]

In this program, host Beheshta Arghand interviews Mawlawi Abdulhaq Hemad, a close member of the Taliban’s media team, about Kabul’s situation and house-to-house searches in the city. https://t.co/P11zbvxGQC pic.twitter.com/Pk95F54xGr

— TOLOnews (@TOLOnews) August 17, 2021

The 24-year-old followed the ground-breaking interview with another one of Nobel laureate Malala Yousafzai. As per TOLO TV, this was the first occasion when Yousafzai, who had survived an assassination attempt by the Taliban, appeared for an interview on Afghan television. In a chat with CNN, Arghand revealed that she fled the country because “like millions of people, I fear the Taliban." The star interviewer had studied journalism at Kabul University. She later worked at several radio and news stations before joining TOLO News as an anchor this year. Saad Mohseni, the chief executive of Moby Group, which owns the news channel, said many journalists had left the country and the company has been “working like crazy” to bring in new people. Arghand says that she will return to Kabul if the situation becomes better. She added that if there was “no threat for me, I will go back to my country and I will work for my country. For my people." Arghand’s departure marks the latest in an exodus of prominent filmmakers and journalists from the country. Recently, photographer and filmmaker Roya Heydari fled the country for France. In an emotional post , she bid farewell to her country, hoping she could come back someday.