Ayna Television (Ayna in Persian means mirror) is a commercial television station, broadcasting from Mazari Sharif, Afghanistan since late 2004. The station is owned by infamous Afghan warlord Abdurrashid Dostum and apart from broadcasting entertainment and news programs serves as a propaganda tool by Dostum and his Party, Jumbish-e-Melli Islami Afghanistan. Ayna was set up in order to satisfy the entertainment needs of people in northern Afghanistan where Uzbek and Turkmen are widely spoken alongside Afghanistan's two other official languages - Dari and Pashto. To date, it is the only television station in Afghanistan that has programs in four languages, Dari, Pashto, Uzbek and Turkmen. Persian (Local names: فارسی Fârsi or پارسی Pârsi)* is an Indo-European language spoken in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan as well as by minorities in Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, India, Pakistan, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Southern Russia, neighboring countries, and elsewhere. ... Mazari Sharif, also known as Mazar-i Sharif or Mazār-e SharÄ«f (Persian: ‎ ), is the fourth largest city of Afghanistan, with population of 300,600 people (2006 official estimate). ... shelby was here 2004 (MMIV) was a leap year starting on Thursday of the Gregorian calendar. ... General Abdul Rashid Dostum (also Abdurrashid Dostum, born 1954) is the Deputy Defense Minister of Afghanistan and an Uzbek warlord. ... The term Dari derives from Fârsi-e Darbâri which means Persian of the (royal) courts. It developed at the royal courts of the Samanids (980 AD) in Central Asia and became the major language of Persia. ... Pashto (‎, IPA: also known as Pakhto, Pushto, Pukhto ‎, Pashtoe, Pashtu, Pushtu or Pushtoo) is an Iranian language spoken by Pashtuns living in Afghanistan and western Pakistan. ...

It can be viewed from all the Northern provinces and the Greater Kabul region. For other places with the same name, see Kabul (disambiguation). ...

The signal of Ayna can be received throughout the northern province of Jowzjan as well as in the neighbouring provinces of Balkh, Faryab and Sar-e Pol. The main transmitter is in Sheberghan, the capital of Jowzjan. The station currently broadcasts six hours a day and employs 32 journalists, 25 technical staff and 12 administrators. Jowzjan province is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Balkh is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Categories: Stub | Provinces of Afghanistan ... Sar-e Pol (Persian: سر پل) is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. ... Sheberghan (also spelled Shebirghan and Shibarghan) is the capital city of the northern Jowzjan Province in Afghanistan. ...

Sayed Fahim Zaffar, the person responsible for Ayna Television, said launching the channel cost about 1 million US dollars. The station's location is in a house belonging to General Dostum. The station plans in the future to construct a proper new building to house the television station under international broadcasting standards.^[1]

References

1. ^ New Options on the Airwaves