Reports of violence in Afghanistan are poised to drop precipitously for the first time in years. It isn’t as a result of the eternally optimistic NATO military occupation, rather, it is because the government has decided they’re tired of seeing the reports.

Afghanistan’s government has issued a decree today that journalists will no longer be allowed to cover attacks inside the nation. Reporting on the violence after the fact will be permitted at the sole discretion of the National Directorate of Security (NDS), the nation’s spy agency.

“Live coverage does not benefit the government,” warned NDS spokesman Saeed Ansari, who warned that journalists violating the new ban would be subject to arrest and their equipment seized. Media figures have cautioned that the move is a threat to free speech in the nation.

The Karzai government has been seen trying to consolidate its control over the nation, having just a week ago issued a decree seizing total control over the operation of future elections.

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