On the fourth anniversary of the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban, members of the Afghanistan Women’s Movement in Exile, by holding a gathering in Pakistan, described the four years of Taliban rule as “an era of oppression, discrimination, ignorance, and the systematic elimination of women.”

Jan Egeland, head of the Norwegian Refugee Council, has expressed deep concern about the current situation in Afghanistan, saying that years of progress, particularly in women’s and girls’ rights, “have been erased before the eyes of the world” since the Taliban’s takeover.

The Afghanistan Independent Media Support Organization (NAI), welcoming the recent report of the United States Department of State on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, has said that this report only reflects part of the reality and that the situation of freedom of expression in the country is far worse than stated.

The Taliban in the provinces of Sar-e-Pul and Laghman have flogged 24 people, including five women, on charges such as extramarital relations, running away from home, phone conversations, and premeditated murder.