A number of women in various provinces say the Taliban’s decision to ban the sale of contraceptive medicines in Afghanistan has placed families under severe pressure and has effectively forced women into repeated childbirth.

Local sources in Kandahar province report that the bodies of three women who were killed some time ago have been found in the Spin Boldak district of the province.

Journalists and media owners in Kapisa province say the Taliban have effectively silenced the media in the province by banning the broadcasting of images of living beings, an action they say openly violates freedom of expression.

Hannah Neumann, a member of the European Parliament, has said that the Taliban’s penal code in Afghanistan “codifies gender apartheid and the de facto enslavement of women and girls”.