Bakhtar News Agency
Bakhtar News Agency (BNA) is the official state news agency of Afghanistan, established in 1939. It provides news content to both domestic and international audiences in Dari, Pashto, and English, and serves as a central source for all government-sanctioned media dissemination.
Media asset
News agency: Bakhtar News Agency
State Media Matrix Typology
Ownership and governance
Bakhtar News Agency operates under the direct authority of the Ministry of Information and Culture, which supervises all aspects of the agency’s operations. According to Afghan media experts interviewed in June 2023, BNA’s management and editorial direction are fully aligned with government policy, with no institutional safeguards for editorial separation from political authority.
Following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, BNA was absorbed into the regime’s consolidated media infrastructure. Its reporting has since been tightly aligned with the Taliban’s ideological and political messaging, and its leadership is now appointed by regime authorities without any form of public or institutional consultation.
Source of funding and budget
BNA is entirely funded by the state, with its operational budget provided by the Taliban-led government. According to interviews conducted in June 2023, the agency receives no independent revenue and relies exclusively on public funds, which are allocated and managed without transparency.
As of 2025, there is no published financial data concerning the agency’s annual budget or expenditures. Given that the Taliban has ceased releasing national budgets since seizing power, BNA’s financial standing remains opaque and embedded within broader regime funding.
Editorial independence
Bakhtar News Agency functions as a state propaganda outlet, with strict editorial oversight enforced by the Ministry of Information and Culture. All content is vetted to ensure consistency with official narratives, and coverage is heavily skewed toward reporting on Taliban leadership activities, government decrees, and religious messaging.
Since 2021, BNA’s role has expanded as other independent outlets have been shuttered, turning it into one of the only remaining government-distributed sources of news in Afghanistan. Editorial content avoids subjects deemed sensitive or controversial—such as women’s rights, political opposition, or criticism of the regime.
No domestic legislation exists that guarantees the editorial independence of the Bakhtar News Agency. Furthermore, no independent oversight body is in place to assess or monitor its operations. In practice, editorial autonomy is non-existent, and the agency functions as a centralized tool for the Taliban’s information control strategy.
July 2025