The the Afghan Women Activist Coordinating Body, coinciding with the fourth anniversary of the Taliban’s rule, has said in a statement that during this time, the situation of women, minorities, and human rights in the country has “severely deteriorated” and the reaction of the international community to these conditions has been nothing but “empty words.”

The Taliban’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs says that after the publication of a joint report by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) and UNAMA’s Human Rights Office on Taliban reprisals against individuals who have been forcibly returned to Afghanistan, a number of UNAMA officials have been summoned to the ministry.

The Women’s Freedom and Thought Foundation, in a statement, said that restricting women’s movement and imposing the wearing of the burqa on women in Panjshir province is a continuation of the Taliban’s “misogynistic policies” and that these actions are in contradiction with religious values and international commitments.

On one hot summer day, after a difficult school exam, I returned home. My father called everyone and, with a voice full of concern, asked us to get ready to leave. The war in the north had intensified and the sound of clashes had filled everywhere with fear and horror. People were leaving their homes one by one to save their lives.