Afghan Service
Despite significant pressure from the Taliban, Radio Azadi is one of the most popular and trusted media outlets in Afghanistan.
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About the Service
RFE/RL’s Afghan Service, known locally as Radio Azadi, broadcasts 24/7 in Dari and Pashto on short- and medium-wave radio and digitally from Prague.
RFE/RL originally broadcast to Afghanistan from 1985 to 1993. Following 9/11, RFE/RL returned in 2002.
Radio Azadi covers the changes to Afghans’ lives since the Taliban’s return, providing a platform for the most vulnerable — women and girls, victims of violent extremism, the LGBTQ+ community, and youth — to share their experiences.
Through user-generated content, Radio Azadi provided groundbreaking coverage of Afghan women protesting against the Taliban’s restrictions of their rights.
From provinces across Afghanistan, Radio Azadi documented the plight of girls 1,000 days after the Taliban prohibited them from attending secondary school.
In cooperation with Learn Afghanistan, Radio Azadi broadcasts radio classrooms offering lessons in history, geography, chemistry, and biology for girls in grades 7 – 12 who are now barred from continuing their education.
The podcasts Colors of Life and Breaking the Silence document the challenges faced by teachers in Afghanistan under Taliban rule and discuss topics often considered culturally taboo.
Radio Azadi provided extensive on-the-ground coverage of the devastation left by flash floods that hit northern Afghanistan in May 2024.
Reaching Audiences
Media Climate
Reporters Without Borders’ World Press Freedom Index ranks Afghanistan 178th out of 180 countries.
In 2018, journalists Maharram Durrani, Abadullah Hananzi, and Sabawoon Kakar were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Kabul. Mohammad Ilyas Dayee was killed in a targeted bomb attack in 2020.
In August 2021, RFE/RL closed its Kabul bureau and evacuated journalists.
Latest Updates
RFE/RL Expands Broadcasts to Afghanistan Despite Taliban Ban
RFE/RL’s award-winning programming is now available 24/7 for millions of Afghan listeners.
RFE/RL Condemns Taliban Move to Further Silence Independent Media
Today, the Taliban removed Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty’s (RFE/RL) award-winning programming from AM and FM radio transmission networks in Afghanistan.
RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi Marks Two Decades Of Service
Twenty years ago, on January 30, 2002, RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi relaunched broadcasting to Afghanistan in the Dari and Pashto languages.
Service Director
Qadir Habib
Qadir Habib is the Service Director of RFE/RL’s Afghan Service, known locally as Radio Azadi. Previously, he was the Service’s managing editor, supervising 12 hours of daily broadcasts to millions of listeners inside the country and among the Afghan diaspora worldwide. He was one of the first journalists to join the Service in 2002 and has worked at its bureau in Kabul and RFE/RL’s headquarters in Prague. In his various roles, he has reported groundbreaking stories, conducted exclusive interviews with policymakers and leaders, and hosted popular talk shows on Afghanistan’s security, political, economic, and social issues. Habib holds a master’s degree in strategic communication from La Salle University in Philadelphia, and a bachelor’s degree in mass communication from Cairo University in Egypt.
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