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.

Written by Arzo Gardizi, Human Rights Activist For three years now, we have been waking up each morning to the image of locked school gates, and going to sleep each night with the memory of the cries of “Bread, Work, Freedom” that once filled the streets.