KABUL - Afghanistan has banned all Pakistani newspapers over what security officials say is anti-government propaganda aimed at Kabul, an interior ministry spokesman said on Saturday, in a move likely to worsen already tense cross-border ties.
Pakistani newspapers are usually filled with statements that the Afghan government does not properly represent its people and that its NATO-led allies are "occupying" the country, rather than offering security support, Ihsanuddin Taheri told Reuters.Some papers have also published speeches by Taliban insurgency leaders, he added, at a time when the government is trying to lure the Taliban into nascent peace talks aimed at ending the 11-year Afghan war.
"We totally reject these statements and the ban is to show them this," said Taheri, adding the nation-wide ban could only be reversed by a ministerial decree.
