Radio Afghanistan

About Radio Afghanistan

Radio Afghanistan (ملی راډیو / رادیو ملی افغانستان) is the state national radio broadcaster of Afghanistan, operating from Kabul under the Ministry of Information and Culture. Launched in 1925 as Radio Kabul, it is the country's oldest broadcaster — on the air for a century — with a network that reaches across all 33 provinces. It broadcasts in Dari and Pashto and remains active as the official radio voice of the state in 2026.

About Radio Afghanistan

Radio Afghanistan is the radio arm of Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA), the state broadcaster. It is a public, state-owned service: funded and administered by the government, and answerable to the Ministry of Information and Culture. Its role is that of a national public broadcaster in the classical sense — carrying official news and announcements, government programming, and general news and cultural content — though under the current administration it operates as a state-controlled outlet whose editorial line reflects the government of the day.

The station's defining characteristic is its reach. With branches in all 33 of Afghanistan's provinces, it is the only radio network with a genuinely national footprint — a legacy of its century-long history and its state backing. In a country where many private stations are confined to a single city or region, Radio Afghanistan's provincial network makes it the broadcaster of record for official communications: government decrees, public announcements and national news are carried on its frequencies as a matter of course.

Its programming is bilingual, in Dari and Pashto — the two languages of government and of the majority of the population. The station carries news bulletins, official statements, and programming on culture, religion and public affairs, alongside the music and entertainment content typical of a national radio service. Its output is the audio counterpart to the state television service: the two share the RTA institutional home, the Kabul headquarters, and the same state ownership.

Radio Afghanistan's mediumwave signal is a notable part of its infrastructure. Its MW transmission on 1107 kHz was logged as recently as February 2026, confirming that the station's long-distance broadcast capability — the kind of signal that can carry across provinces and beyond borders — remains operational. Mediumwave matters in Afghanistan because it reaches areas where FM coverage is thin and internet access is unreliable.

History

Radio Afghanistan began life in 1925 as Radio Kabul, making it one of the oldest radio stations in Asia and the first broadcaster in Afghan history. It was established during the reign of King Amanullah Khan, in an era when radio itself was a new technology and Afghanistan was beginning to build the institutions of a modern state. For its first decades it was the only voice on the Afghan airwaves — the medium through which the state spoke to its citizens, and through which Afghans first heard broadcast news, music and drama.

Through the twentieth century the station's fortunes tracked the country's turbulent politics. It broadcast through the monarchy, the republic, the communist era and the civil war, changing its editorial character with each regime while remaining, throughout, a state institution. During the Soviet-backed period it was an instrument of government messaging; during the 1990s civil war its reach contracted; under the first Taliban government from 1996 to 2001, it was repurposed as the voice of the Islamic Emirate, with music banned from its airwaves.

After 2001, Radio Afghanistan was rebuilt as part of the new media landscape, operating alongside a flourishing private sector of FM stations, television channels and newspapers. It regained its role as the national public broadcaster, carrying news and official programming while private stations competed for entertainment and music audiences. Its television arm, Afghanistan National Television, developed in parallel, and together they formed RTA — the state broadcasting institution.

The return of the Taliban to power in August 2021 brought Radio Afghanistan back under the direct control of the Islamic Emirate's Ministry of Information and Culture, restoring the state-controlled character it had held in earlier eras. The station did not close or go silent; it continued broadcasting throughout the transition, as state broadcasters typically do when governments change. Its provincial network — the branches in all 33 provinces — remained in place, and its MW and FM transmissions continued.

By 2026 the station's continued operation was well documented. The State Media Monitor assessed RTA's services in July 2026, and the broadcaster's YouTube channels were carrying news bulletins dated July 2026 — including material in English via RTA's English-language output. The mediumwave signal on 1107 kHz was logged in February 2026. A century after its founding as Radio Kabul, the station remained on the air as Afghanistan's official national radio.

Programming

Radio Afghanistan's schedule is that of a state national broadcaster. News is the backbone: regular bulletins in Dari and Pashto covering domestic developments, official announcements and government business, alongside international news selected for its relevance to Afghan listeners. As the state's own broadcaster, it is the primary channel for official communications — decrees, statements and public information campaigns reach the public through its frequencies.

Beyond news, the station carries the programming mix typical of a public radio service: cultural and religious content, educational programming, and entertainment including music. The balance of these elements has shifted with the political winds over the station's century on air — music, for instance, was absent under the 1990s Taliban government and returned after 2001 — but the underlying format of a full-service national station has endured.

The station also produces content in English through RTA's English-language services, which carry news bulletins and official material for international audiences and the English-speaking community in Afghanistan. This multilingual output — Dari and Pashto on the main service, English on the dedicated channels — reflects the broadcaster's dual role as a domestic public service and as the government's voice to the outside world.

Radio Afghanistan's webcast, carried on rta.live, extends the broadcast signal to online listeners, and the broadcaster maintains a presence on social platforms through RTA's English-language accounts. The web stream means the station's programming is available beyond the reach of its transmitters, including to the Afghan diaspora.

Languages and platforms

Radio Afghanistan broadcasts in Dari and Pashto, the country's two official languages and the languages of its news bulletins, official announcements and general programming. English-language output is produced through RTA's dedicated English services, which carry news bulletins and official content for a different audience.

The station transmits on mediumwave — 1107 kHz, logged active in February 2026 — and on FM frequencies through its provincial network, giving it the broadest terrestrial reach of any Afghan radio broadcaster. Its online presence runs through the RTA website at rta.af and the rta.live webcast, which streams the station's output to internet listeners.

The bilingual Dari-Pashto core reflects the station's mandate as a national broadcaster: to be intelligible to the whole country, it must speak the country's two main languages. The provincial branches allow for local-language and local-content variations within that national framework, though the Kabul-produced national service remains the center of gravity.

Location, network and operating status

Radio Afghanistan is headquartered in Kabul, where RTA's main complex houses both the radio and television operations. Its network extends to branches in all 33 provinces of Afghanistan — the most extensive broadcast infrastructure in the country, and the physical basis of its claim to be the national radio.

The station is state-owned and state-controlled, administered under the Ministry of Information and Culture. This directory describes that status factually: Radio Afghanistan is the official broadcaster of the Afghan state, and its editorial output reflects the government that funds and oversees it. Listeners seeking the official position of the Afghan government will find it here; listeners seeking independent journalism will look to the country's private and exile outlets.

As of October 2026, Radio Afghanistan was verified as active: the State Media Monitor's July 2026 assessment covered its services, its YouTube channels carried bulletins dated July 2026, and its 1107 kHz mediumwave signal was logged in February 2026. It broadcasts alongside its television sibling, Afghanistan National Television, as the two arms of RTA.

Official website and contact

The official website is https://rta.af/, the portal for RTA's radio and television services, with the radio webcast available via rta.live. Listed contact details include the phone number +9370224626 and the address rtaenglish@rta.org.af for the English-language service; social media presence runs through RTA's English-language accounts.

WorldNM is an independent directory and does not own, operate or represent Radio Afghanistan. For programming inquiries or official communications, please use the broadcaster's own channels.

Sources and last verified

This profile was verified on 13 October 2026. The station's 1925 founding as Radio Kabul, its state ownership under the Ministry of Information and Culture, its Dari and Pashto languages, and its 33-province network are corroborated by secondary sources; the rta.af website could not be fetched directly at verification (connection timed out). Continued activity in 2026 is evidenced by the State Media Monitor's July 2026 assessment, YouTube bulletins dated July 2026, and the 1107 kHz mediumwave logging of February 2026. Facts reflect what was publicly verifiable on the verification date.