Zan News: Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan remain under constant attack by the Taliban. Photo: UN Photo/Eskinder Debebe Amina Mohammed: Women's Rights in Afghanistan Under Continuous Taliban Attacks January 5, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Amina Mohammed, the Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations, has stated that the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan remain under constant attack by the Taliban. On Saturday (January 4), she wrote on her X account that these restrictions reached their peak over the past year, stripping women and girls of a dignified life and making their living conditions even more difficult. In her post, Ms. Mohammed highlighted that despite these circumstances, one prominent Afghan woman declared, "We will not surrender." She also reaffirmed her firm commitment to advocating for women's rights within the framework of Islamic values. Earlier, Ms. Mohammed visited Afghanistan in (March 2023) and met with Taliban leaders. Upon her return, she emphasized the need for increased international pressure on the Taliban to change their policies toward women. Additionally, on (April 2023), during a speech at Princeton University in the U.S., she proposed holding a meeting to discuss the recognizing the Taliban. It is worth noting that over the past three years, the Taliban have issued more than 70 restrictive decrees against women in Afghanistan. These include bans on girls' education beyond grade six, attending university, working, sports participation, and social activities, effectively violating the fundamental rights of women.

Zan News - Takhar: Local sources in Takhar report that two Taliban members sexually assaulted a woman and a young girl in this province. Sexual Assault by Taliban Members on a Woman and Young Girl in Takhar July 1, 2024 Zan News Zan News - Takhar: Local sources in Takhar report that two Taliban members sexually assaulted a woman and a young girl in this province. Sources on Sunday (June 30) stated that two Taliban members, named Mullah Sangar Gujar, a local commander of the Ministry of Defense outpost, and Obaidullah, a member of the Taliban's special unit, attacked two homes in the villages of Eyvot and Malwar Payan in the Warsaj district of Takhar at night and committed this act. According to the sources, this incident occurred after about 500 Pashtun Taliban fighters were stationed in Warsaj district. Based on the sources' statements, Mullah Sangar Gujar first beat the family members and then raped a woman who has two children. Obaidullah also raped a young girl in Warsaj. The girl's father, a farmer, went to the Taliban district governor in Warsaj to file a complaint, but his complaint was ignored. Meanwhile, the residents of Warsaj complain about the presence and violent behavior of the Taliban, stating that Pashtun Taliban fighters enter their homes under various pretexts and disrespect women and children. They said that for nearly two years, more than 500 Taliban Ministry of Defense fighters, equipped with light and heavy weapons, have established military bases in the mosques of several villages in Warsaj and, with their violent behavior, have caused serious problems for women, children, shepherds, and farmers. Residents of Warsaj added that after the arrest of Azimullah Warsaji, a commander of the National Resistance Front of Afghanistan, along with seven of his men by the Taliban on December 30, 2022, the district has turned into a military base, making life difficult for them. This comes three days after a Taliban fighter killed a child in Sabri district of Khost province. Sources indicated that the incident occurred because the child rejected the Taliban fighter's "sexual request."

Zan News: Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran's representative at the United Nations, described the situation of Afghan women and girls as "dire" during a Security Council meeting in New York. Photo: UN Iran's Representative at the UN: Taliban Restrictions on Women Have No Islamic Basis March 11, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Amir Saeed Iravani, Iran's representative at the United Nations, described the situation of Afghan women and girls as "dire" during a Security Council meeting in New York. At the meeting, which focused on Afghanistan, he pointed out that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women have no basis in Islamic law and contradict Afghanistan's cultural traditions. According to a report by the Islamic Republic News Agency (IRNA) on Tuesday (11 March), Iravani added, "We urge the de facto Taliban authorities to review these measures and take immediate steps to restore women's rights." He also described Afghanistan's security situation as "precarious" and said that the threat posed by active terrorist groups in Afghanistan, particularly the Khorasan branch of ISIS, is alarming not only for Afghanistan but also for regional and global security. He called on the Taliban to adhere to Afghanistan's international commitments in the fight against terrorism and to prioritize this struggle. Furthermore, Iravani stressed that Afghanistan is facing one of the "direst humanitarian crises" in the world and urged the Taliban authorities to refrain from interfering with humanitarian programs so that aid can reach the people without obstacles. The representative of Iran also noted that legal Afghan migrants in Iran face "no restrictions whatsoever"; he mentioned that Iranian consulates in Afghanistan issue five thousand visas daily to Afghan citizens. It is worth noting that the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan was held in New York on Monday (March 10).

Zan News: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan reports that one-third of pregnant women in Afghanistan give birth outside health centers. UNICEF: One-Third of Pregnant Women in Afghanistan Give Birth Outside Health Centers July 16, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Afghanistan reports that one-third of pregnant women in Afghanistan give birth outside health centers. In a report published on Monday (July 15), UNICEF stated that over 67 percent of births in Afghanistan are attended by a skilled health professional. UNICEF emphasized that "although pregnant mothers should meet with a skilled doctor at least four times before delivery, only one-third of women in Afghanistan do so." The organization noted, "when mothers give birth outside a health center or without a skilled healthcare provider, the mother's life is at serious risk." This report comes at a time when the delivery of health services in Afghanistan has been in crisis since the Taliban took power. The Taliban have been unable to manage this crisis over the past three years and have failed to provide healthcare services to all citizens in both rural and urban areas. In January last year, Agence France-Presse 24, quoting Stéphane Dujarric, the spokesperson for the United Nations, reported that every two hours, one mother dies during childbirth in Afghanistan. The outlet also quoted Filipe Ribeiro, head of Doctors Without Borders in Afghanistan, who stated that access to prenatal and postnatal care for women in Afghanistan has always been very complex and has become even more complicated today.

The darkness of the Taliban’s cruel restrictions has cast a black, heavy shadow over little Mahtab’s life. Photo: Paula Bronstein/hrw A Bitter Day Beside the Girl Who Sells Gum April 20, 2025 Ariahn Raya The darkness of the Taliban’s cruel restrictions has cast a black, heavy shadow over little Mahtab’s life. She is one of 160 million child laborers in the world, running from dawn to dusk in one of Afghanistan’s major cities, straining her voice to sell five-Afghani gum in order to afford the medicine that cost thousand Afghani for her suffering mother. The clock shows 7:10 in the morning, and I find Mahtabi in a corner of Herat city, hidden deep in sorrow and grief. A sorrow that bends the strong shoulders of adults and weakens the sturdy arms of the youth. The pain of not having money for her mother’s treatment, who lies ill at home, on one side, and the lack of a breadwinner, being an orphan, the empty table, and the sorrow of her two little sisters' hungry stomachs on the other, all weigh heavily on this child laborer's small shoulders. Mahtab, a 13-year-old girl lost from morning until evening in the dust and smoke of Herat’s traffic, says she wakes up early in the hope of selling more gum, but she skips breakfast so she can arrive at the Maref Square of Herat city earlier than other working children. "I try to get here earlier than all the other boys and girls. Some people buy gum from me and don’t take their change. Some days, I don’t even earn fifty Afghanis. My mother is sick, I work so I can take her to the doctor." I try to move closer to her so I can hear the voice buried in her choking sorrow more clearly, but in this square, the noise of vehicles, which seem to outnumber the passengers, drowns out Mahtab’s trembling, childlike voice. Wearing a wrinkled white headscarf and a black coat, clothing that carries a bundle of memories for millions of girls in Afghanistan, she waves her hand and calls out, trying to draw the attention of passengers and drivers toward herself. All of Mahtab’s effort is to earn between 50 to 100 Afghanis by selling a pack of gum, so she can give the money to her mother to either buy medicine or spend it on food for the family. "I don’t sell gum here for myself. We have no one to work. My father passed away, and my mother is sick. Sometimes at night when I go home, my mother takes the money I’ve earned to either buy bread or medicine for herself." Her dust-covered face and cracked hands tell the story of Mahtab’s difficult life. She says that in the past, her mother used to support their family of four by working in people’s homes. But now, as the oldest member of the family, she has been forced to carry that heavy burden herself. "My mother used to go to people’s houses and wash their clothes, clean their homes, and sometimes do tailoring. But now she is sick. The doctors have said she needs surgery. Right now, my mother has no money to get treatment." Slowly, the sunlight begins to shine more brightly on the streets of Herat and on Mahtab’s body, and the number of children who share her fate at Maref Square in Herat increases. Other young boys and girls also come to this place to work in their own ways and take home a few Afghanis by evening. These working children sometimes argue and get into fights, and sometimes they are friends and smile at each other. But Mahtab stays mostly focused on selling her gum. She is less concerned about the future and more absorbed in the worries of today. She is thinking about how to make it through this day and return home with something in hand. A home where a sick mother and two little sisters wait for food and bread. "If I don’t work, how will we find bread tonight? Sometimes my little sisters cry and say we don’t have anything to eat. I have to sell a lot of gum, because if my mother doesn’t take her medicine, she can’t sleep at night. She just sits and cries." With each passing moment, as the warm sunlight shines brighter, the air in Herat grows hotter. Yet the exhaustion and hopelessness on Mahtab’s face become even more visible. It is twelve noon, and no sound comes from Mahtab’s throat. She has been shouting for hours through the dust of Herat’s main road to sell just a few more pieces of gum. With her hoarse voice, she tries to make people understand that she needs the money from selling these gums. But her cries, mixed with the roar of cars and traffic noise, do not reach the ears of many passersby. Mahtab, with a voice full of pain and sorrow, says, "Today again I made no money. Only a few people hear my voice. No one listens to me. I just wish that today I could sell one pack of gum by the evening." Mahtab also dreams of going to school, building her future, playing like other children, and enjoying life. But she says that even thinking about these things would keep her from being able to provide dinner for her family. "I also want to play like others, jump rope, go to school so one day I can help my people. But if I start thinking about those things now, then tonight we will all have to go to sleep hungry." Mahtab says her father served as a soldier in the Afghan National Army during the Republic. But in the early days of the fall of the Republic and the rise of the Taliban, he was killed by a landmine in Zawal district of Herat province. "My father was in the army. It was around sunset when our phone rang. My mother answered, then she started crying and said, 'Mahtabak, you have become orphan.'" Mahtab is not the only one who has become the breadwinner of her family due to the absence of a guardian. More than seven thousand children in Herat province are experiencing the same fate as Mahtab, or even worse.

Zan News: The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) reports that in the past two decades, 128 journalists and media workers, including 28 women, have lost their lives due to war events and organized crimes in Afghanistan. Photo: Al Jazeera Afghanistan Journalists Center: 128 Journalists Have Died in the Past Two Decades November 2, 2024 Zan News Zan News: The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) reports that in the past two decades, 128 journalists and media workers, including 28 women, have lost their lives due to war events and organized crimes in Afghanistan. On Friday (November 1), the center issued a statement calling for an end to impunity for crimes against journalists. The AFJC’s investigations show that due to the culture of impunity, law and justice have not been enforced in over 90% of these cases. The center also reported that in over three years of Taliban rule, at least 447 violations of journalists' and media workers' rights, including three deaths, dozens of threats and acts of violence, and more than 220 arrests, have been recorded. The Afghanistan Journalists Center emphasized in its statement that restrictions on journalists' and media activities under Taliban rule have increased unprecedentedly. The statement said: "The Afghanistan Journalists Center calls on the Taliban to ensure justice for victimized journalists and, while respecting fundamental journalists' and media rights, to revoke regulations that have unprecedentedly restricted media freedom." According to the Afghanistan Journalists Center, there is no prospect for ensuring justice for victimized journalists in the country. This statement is being released today, Saturday (November 2), coinciding with the International Day to End Impunity for Crimes Against Journalists. The Afghanistan Journalists Center also expressed concern last month over the Taliban's new restrictions on media activities. Meanwhile, the Taliban declared a few months ago that the center's activities are "invalid."

Zan News: Local sources in Khost province report that five members of a family, including a woman, have died from gas poisoning in the province. Photo: wikipedia Five Family Members Die from Gas Poisoning in Khost Province January 6, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Local sources in Khost province report that five members of a family, including a woman, have died from gas poisoning in the province. Sources on Monday (January 6) stated that the incident occurred last night in a hotel. According to sources, the victims included a father, mother, and three young sons, who were members of a family from the Sarobi district of Paktika. The sources added that the family had come to Khost for the treatment of a sick relative. Meanwhile, Taliban officials in Khost province have also confirmed the incident. It is noteworthy that gas poisoning incidents increase during the winter season in Afghanistan. Similar events in different provinces have recently resulted in the deaths of several citizens due to the use of gas heaters and the explosion of gas balloons.

Zan News: Local sources in Kandahar province reported that a young girl in this province committed suicide because of a forced marriage with an elderly man. Social Media A Girl in Kandahar Committed Suicide Due to a Forced Marriage with an Elderly Man February 20, 2025 Zan News Zan News: Local sources in Kandahar province reported that a young girl in this province committed suicide because of a forced marriage with an elderly man. Sources on Wednesday (February 19) stated that this incident occurred in the Khakriz district of Kandahar. According to reports, the girl ended her life by ingesting poison. Local sources told media that the marriage ceremony of this girl with the elderly man was held last week.

Zan News - Badakhshan: A landslide in the village of "Vani" in Yamegan district, Badakhshan province, killed one woman and injured four others. Landslide in Badakhshan Kills One Woman and Injures Four June 8, 2024 Zan News Zan News - Badakhshan: A landslide in the village of "Vani" in Yamegan district, Badakhshan province, killed one woman and injured four others. Mohammad Kamagar, the head of the Taliban's Natural Disaster Management in Badakhshan, confirmed on Saturday (June 8) that the incident occurred late yesterday. According to him, the person killed in the incident was a woman, and the four injured were men who were digging on the hillside. The injured were taken to the Yamegan district health center. A local resident said that after the incident, people informed the Taliban in Yamegan district, but no help was sent to the scene. He added that the residents of Vani village in Yamegan themselves took the injured to the hospital, and the condition of two of them is critical.

Zan News: A number of Afghan citizens in France held a protest against the Taliban’s new “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law and the group’s repressive policies against Afghan women and girls. Afghan Citizens Protest in France Against New Taliban Law and Suppression of Women September 15, 2024 Zan News Zan News: A number of Afghan citizens in France held a protest against the Taliban’s new “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law and the group’s repressive policies against Afghan women and girls. In the resolution of this protest, held on Saturday (14 September) in Paris, it was stated that since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, the country has fallen into a regime of “terror,” and the rights of Afghan women have been completely eradicated. The resolution added: “Over the past three years, the Taliban have issued at least 52 decrees to create a regime that isolates and suppresses women. Although initially, many countries mobilized to support women and provide asylum to them; today, the silence and inaction of those same countries leave women at the mercy of their torturers.” The participants of the protest referred to the Taliban’s new “Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” law, which labels women’s voices and even their faces as “awrah” (parts of the body that must be covered), and stated that this law has made the gender apartheid regime in Afghanistan clearer. Article 13 of this law explicitly mentions covering the entire body, face, and voice of women as religious obligations, with penalties such as imprisonment and fines for violators. The resolution further accused the international community of remaining silent in the face of these repressions and called for immediate action to support Afghan women. It also urged the French government to expedite the evacuation and acceptance of Afghan women forced into exile by the Taliban and to impose “targeted sanctions” against Taliban leaders. Finally, the resolution called for public campaigns to support Afghan women and protest against the Taliban regime, reminding governments that women’s rights must be a non-negotiable precondition for any international legitimacy of the Taliban.