"Slightly Surprised We're Still On Air": Owner Of Afghanistan's TOLO News

About 20 per cent of Tolo News' women anchors have either quit or left and our employees are feeling the pressure - Saad Mohseni told NDTV

The Taliban have said they are open to a free Afghan media, but it is still unclear how independent news organisations will be in the long run, Saad Mohseni, the owner of Tolo News, Afghanistan's first independent news channel, told NDTV on Monday. Mr Mohseni spoke of a surprise visit by the Taliban to Tolo News offices in Kabul; they were "very respectful" he said, although they did confiscate weapons from the company's armed security team. Chairman and CEO of the MOBY Group, the media company that owns Tolo News, he said it would be naive to expect no restrictions; "... the question is how much (will the media be restricted)..." "Slightly surprised we are still allowed to function... although they always assured us, they are open to the idea of a free press in Afghanistan and particularly local news organisations. So, this is interesting now... but we can't take it for granted. There is a long way to go before we know, for sure, how they will treat the media and news organisations," he said.