Photo: AP / The National Four years after the Taliban’s takeover, Afghan women and girls are not only deprived of education and work, but sports are also forbidden for them. A number of female athletes have left the country and continue sports in exile, but inside Afghanistan there are still girls who only practice in secret, living in fear of the Taliban, while keeping alive the dream of playing in international arenas. The Guardian in a report on Wednesday (September 10) reflected the story of “Fawzia,” a sixteen-year-old Afghan girl (a pseudonym). She says her home is both her birthplace and her prison. Fawzia considers her only happiness to be practicing cricket with her sisters; they play in the small garden of their house and when the Taliban are on the street, they go to the basement so that their voices are not heard. She told the Guardian: “This is my only happiness. My only hope is that one day I can play cricket in an international field; it does not matter if it is in a league or in the Afghanistan national team. Just being able to play in an international field would be the greatest joy of my life. But right now there is no opportunity for me.” Fawzia describes her memories of school this way: “At that time it was very enjoyable. We had two teams, almost 74 people. At that time we could hit any shot we wanted and we enjoyed it a lot. But now we cannot even play loudly because the Taliban might hear us. I always pray that no one will ever have to live a life like mine.” Since the Taliban’s return, all women’s rights have vanished; girls’ sports and education are banned, universities are closed, work and art are restricted, and even women’s access to health services has been disrupted. A United Nations report shows that these restrictions could increase maternal mortality by more than fifty percent by 2026. The Guardian further referred to the Afghan women’s cricket team that was taken out of the country with the efforts of Australian activists and now participates in friendly matches in exile. The report also criticized the performance of the International Cricket Council (ICC). Although having a women’s team is one of the main criteria for membership in the ICC statute, the council continues to provide full financial support to the Afghanistan Cricket Board. In April, the ICC announced the creation of a “special task force,” a support fund, and a training program for Afghan female players in exile, but according to athletes, these measures have not yet been tangible. Dr. Catherine Ordway, one of the main supporters of the Afghan women’s national team in exile and co-founder of the charity Pitch Our Future, told the Guardian: “This is the least they could do. A lot of time was wasted and until today not much has been done.” Comparing the ICC’s performance with FIFA, she added: “FIFA allocated 17 staff to support the Afghan women’s football team and held three training camps. It is not enough, but at least it is a beginning.” According to the Guardian, Afghan female athletes both inside and in exile want the world to know they exist and for their voices to be heard. They demand official recognition, training opportunities, selection camps, and participation in international competitions. It is worth mentioning that the Afghan women’s cricket team in exile is scheduled to travel to India to watch part of the Women’s World Cup and play several friendly matches; a small but important sign in the record of what the international community has done so far to support Afghan women athletes.

Sent to ZanTV A number of Afghan journalists, women’s rights activists, former military personnel, and civil society activists residing in Pakistan held a gathering in Islamabad to protest against the forced deportation of Afghan migrants. In a statement, these protesters said that the forced deportation of migrants is a clear violation of international and human rights laws. They emphasized that many refugees were forced to flee to Pakistan after the fall of Afghanistan due to Taliban threats, and returning them could lead to their arrest, torture, or even death. These activists called on international organizations and the government of Pakistan to immediately stop the process of forced deportation and provide a safe and dignified life for the refugees. The statement said: “Remaining silent in the face of this oppression is an unforgivable crime.” This protest comes as the deportation of Afghan migrants from Pakistan and Iran continues. Taliban-affiliated media have reported that only yesterday (9 September) 2,293 Afghan families were returned to the country through various border crossings. According to this report, 1,300 families entered Afghanistan through Torkham in Nangarhar, 238 families through Spin Boldak in Kandahar, 124 families through Pul Abrisham in Nimroz, 26 families through Bahramcha in Helmand, and 605 families through Islam Qala in Herat.

Photo: Save the Children Save the Children has announced that about 37 thousand children under the age of five and 10 thousand pregnant and breastfeeding women in earthquake-affected areas of Afghanistan are struggling with severe malnutrition. This organization has stated that more than 91 thousand people in the affected areas are in need of urgent nutritional support and children are among the most vulnerable groups. According to this organization, the reduction of international budgets has caused the closure of nearly 80 health centers and mobile teams in eastern Afghanistan, and the access of about 564 thousand people to health services has been limited. The head of the support section of Save the Children in Afghanistan has warned: “Child malnutrition was already an emergency situation and the earthquakes deepen this crisis.” Meanwhile, based on statistics, nearly five million children in Afghanistan are facing severe food shortages and it is predicted that more than three million children will suffer from malnutrition only this year.

Sent to ZanTV Four years after the Taliban’s takeover, the doors of girls’ schools above grade six and universities remain closed. During this period, international institutions and various countries have repeatedly called for the reopening of schools and universities, but the Taliban have taken no practical action in this regard. The Powerful Women’s Movement, on the occasion of International Literacy Day (September 8), condemned this deprivation through a statement and called it a clear violation of human rights and the extinguishing of the future of a nation. The statement said: “The only crime of Afghan girls is being women.” This movement emphasized that the Taliban, with discriminatory policies, have deprived millions of girls of the right to education. Literacy is not only reading and writing, it is the light of freedom, justice and progress, and extinguishing it means darkening the future of Afghanistan. According to the movement, no society reaches prosperity and progress without educated and aware women, and depriving girls of education pushes Afghanistan toward destruction. The Powerful Women’s Movement has called on the United Nations, the Human Rights Council and the international community to break the silence against this systematic discrimination, to put pressure on the Taliban to reopen schools and universities for girls, and to reflect the silenced voices of Afghan girls at the global level. In conclusion, the movement emphasized: “Without educated women, Afghanistan will not be saved and without the right to education, lasting peace is not possible.”

Sent to Zan TV An explosion of explosives in a residential house in Bala Boluk district of Farah province claimed the lives of seven members of a family, including a woman and five children. Fida Mohammad Sa’ad, the Taliban district governor of Bala Boluk, said in a press release that the incident took place on Monday (September 8) in Nowabad village. According to him, the incident occurred when planted explosives in the house of a man named Jan Mohammad, known as “Malang Janan Qalandari,” detonated, killing him, his wife, and five of their children. Local Taliban officials confirmed that one of the victims, who was critically injured, died while being transferred to the hospital. This incident once again highlights that explosives directly threaten the lives of civilians, especially women and children. Due to decades of conflict in Afghanistan, many war-affected areas remain littered with landmines and unexploded ordnance, with women and children being the main victims.

Photo: AFP / Getty Images via DW Amnesty International, at the 60th session of the United Nations Human Rights Council, warned that the Taliban’s repression of women and violations of human rights have intensified, stressing the need for an independent international mechanism to investigate and hold the group accountable. The organization, in a statement on Tuesday (September 9), said that the Taliban are arresting, torturing, and disappearing their critics. The statement also noted that religious and ethnic minorities have been targeted by the Taliban, including 50 Ismaili men in Badakhshan who were forced to convert their religion. According to Amnesty International, former military personnel and journalists returning from neighboring countries are also facing direct threats from the Taliban. The organization emphasized that only an independent international mechanism can investigate and document the widespread human rights violations in Afghanistan. Previously, Richard Bennett, the UN Human Rights Council’s Special Rapporteur for Afghanistan, had also called for the creation of such a mechanism. Human rights activists say continued silence in the face of the systematic violations of the rights of women, minorities, and critics in Afghanistan amounts to legitimizing the Taliban’s repression.

Social Media Mohammad Omar Mukhlis, a former Taliban commander in Paktia province and a member of the Haqqani Network, admitted during his farewell ceremony that the group had been tasked with killing all journalists. He said that many journalists managed to save their lives by fleeing the country. In his speech, Mukhlis stated: “We were killing all journalists. They were not journalists, they were traitors. We pursued them, but they escaped and reached their masters.” After being dismissed by Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, he has now been appointed as the head of the Third Security District of Kabul. Sources confirm that this reshuffle had caused serious tensions between Hibatullah and Sirajuddin Haqqani. Systematic Torture of Journalists While the Taliban constantly speak of a so-called “general amnesty,” Afghan journalists have shared painful and shocking accounts of detention, torture, and death threats at the hands of this group. “Ahmad” (a pseudonym), a journalist who was arrested by the Taliban, recounts: “After being taken to prison and locked in a horrifying cell where the sounds of torture could be heard at every moment, it felt like the soul was leaving the body. I was so terrified that my body went numb. When my turn came, they beat me with electric cables, burned me with hot rods, spat on my face, and even urinated on me. I fainted, and when I regained consciousness, the beatings continued. This went on for several days.” He adds: “One day, a Taliban member I had never seen before came and asked, ‘How many reports have you published about our Mujahideen?’ I said, ‘I am a cameraman, not a reporter.’ Even though my entire body was wounded, he ordered, ‘Cut off his ear.’ At that very moment, they cut my ear, and I fainted again.” The Policy of Silencing Independent Voices This account is only one of dozens of documented examples of how the Taliban have treated journalists. Over the past three years, a number of journalists in Afghanistan have been arrested, tortured, disappeared, and even killed. The recent confession of a former Taliban commander shows that the physical elimination of journalists was not an individual act, but part of the Taliban’s systematic policy to silence independent voices.

Photo: Salvatore Di Nolfi / Keystone via AP Photo The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights says Taliban restrictions on women have placed Afghanistan among the countries with the highest maternal mortality rates. Volker Türk, the High Commissioner for Human Rights, said on Monday (September 8) at the opening of the 60th session of the UN Human Rights Council that the Taliban have not only deprived women of access to health services but have also violated their fundamental rights. According to him, four years after the Taliban’s takeover, the removal of women and girls from public life has become “almost complete.” These remarks come as the Taliban have imposed extensive restrictions on women over the past four years, including closing girls’ schools above grade six, banning them from universities, and prohibiting medical education. In some areas, women are not even allowed to access health services without a male guardian.

Photo: AP/Ebrahim Noroozi When the world emphasizes the right to education, Kabul sinks into darkness On September 8, the world once again marked International Literacy Day; a day that reminds us of the fundamental right of every human being to read and write. But in Afghanistan, where the Taliban have banned girls’ education through their decrees, this day has become less a celebration and more a reminder of silence and repression. The Education Crisis Under the Taliban According to UNESCO and UNICEF reports, since the Taliban’s return in August 2021: At least 1.4 to 2.5 million Afghan girls have been deprived of secondary and higher education. This deprivation equals 80% of school-age girls. In total, nearly 2.2 million girls have no access to education beyond grade six. If the ban continues, by 2030 more than 4 million girls will be excluded from the education system. It is also estimated that each Afghan girl has lost more than 3,600 hours of education over the past three years. Lost Achievements During the Republic era, Afghanistan, despite challenges, witnessed relative progress: The literacy rate of adult women rose from 17% in 2011 to 30% in 2018. Women’s enrollment in universities in 2020 increased to more than 21% of all students. Girls’ education contributed to a decline in infant mortality and an increase in per capita income from 810 dollars (2001) to 2,590 dollars (2020). With the ban on education, the Taliban have effectively destroyed these fragile achievements. Human and Economic Consequences Health UNICEF has warned that the educational deprivation of women could result in 1,600 additional maternal deaths and 3,500 newborn deaths, as the shortage of female nurses and doctors will fuel a medical crisis. Economy According to calculations by international organizations, Afghanistan loses 2.5% of its GDP annually, equivalent to 5.4 billion dollars, due to the educational deprivation of girls. Society The rise in child marriage, forced labor, domestic violence, depression, and even suicide among girls are direct consequences of these bans. Resistance in Darkness Despite the pressure, the voice of resistance has not been silenced: Underground networks, such as the Parasto Hakim Initiative in 16 provinces, are educating more than 2,800 girls in 35 underground schools. Digital platforms such as LEARN Afghanistan are providing secret online classes for hundreds of female students. These movements show that books and pens, even in the darkest conditions, remain tools of resistance. The Voice of the World and the Silence of the Taliban Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan, recently said: “Books are not only the source of knowledge, but also a path to achieving sustainable well-being. Providing equal access to education is vital for the future of Afghanistan.” But the Taliban, still ignoring these warnings, justify their policy as “religious” and “cultural,” a lie in complete contradiction with Islamic teachings and international human rights instruments. Conclusion: A Global Test in Kabul International Literacy Day must remind the global community of this truth: Silence in the face of the Taliban means complicity in extinguishing the light of knowledge. If the world insists on “sustainable development” and “education for all,” the real test lies today in Afghanistan. In a country where the Taliban snatch the pen from the hands of girls, every secret classroom, every page turned, and every girl who continues to learn is a loud voice of freedom and resistance.

Photo: UNAMAnews/X On the occasion of International Literacy Day, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) emphasized the necessity of universal access to education, especially for women and girls. The mission wrote today, Monday (September 8), on its X page quoting Roza Otunbayeva, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General in Afghanistan: “Books are not only a source of knowledge, but also a path to sustainable well-being.” In this message, while honoring Afghanistan’s rich literary heritage, UNAMA called for inclusive and equal access to education for all citizens, especially women and girls. This comes as four years have passed since the closure of schools above grade six and the deprivation of girls from universities under Taliban rule. The group has so far taken no steps to reopen them. Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban spokesman, also recently, in response to a question about including girls’ education above grade six in the National Development Strategy, described it as “a minor issue.” It is worth mentioning that International Literacy Day has been designated by UNESCO since 1967 and is commemorated annually on September 8.