Taliban authorities have arrested the owner of a private Afghan television network Aref Nuri. Nuri's son, Roman Nuri, told the RFE / RL Afghan Service that Taliban security forces entered the family home in Kabul yesterday and took his father away.

He said the Taliban, dressed in national security uniforms, surrounded him and entered the home without a warrant, refusing to say where his father had been taken.

The Afghan Freelance Journalists Association says four journalists have been arrested or beaten by Taliban authorities in Afghanistan in recent days. According to the association, the fate of two of them is unknown.

The Taliban have introduced "extremely dangerous" rules for journalism.

The Taliban, which used a strict interpretation of Islamic Sharia law during its last term in power from 1996 to 2001, seized power in Kabul in mid-August, raising concerns about the future of the country's free media and human rights.