Paris, (AFP) - Afghanistan has lost more than half of its journalists, especially women, since the Taliban seized power a year ago, according to a study prepared by Reporters Without Borders on Friday.

According to the organization's estimates, "there were 11,857 journalists before the Taliban came to power, and today only 4,759 of them remain." The organization indicated that "76.19 percent of female journalists have lost their jobs."

The study, published by the organization on its website, showed that "on August 15, 2021, the country had 547 media outlets, and after a year, 219 of them stopped working." In contrast, four new media outlets appeared.

The organization stressed that "in some regions, a number of institutions were forced to stop broadcasting due to the replacement of music programs and news bulletins with religious programs."

The organization also explained the closure of some media institutions with "new economic difficulties, such as the cessation of international and national aid and the decline in advertising revenues in light of a severe economic crisis."

There were "before the arrival of the two students to power, 2,756 women were working as journalists in media organizations or cooperating with them, but their number is now limited to 656, the majority of them in the capital, Kabul."

There are no female journalists in 11 of the 34 states.

A journalist working in Kabul said, "The living and working conditions of women in Afghanistan were and still are difficult, but today we live in an unprecedented situation."

At least 80 Afghan journalists have been arrested over the past year, and three are currently imprisoned, according to the organization.

Afghanistan ranks 156th in the World Press Freedom Index issued by Reporters Without Borders.