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Social Media Local sources in Baghlan province say that a Taliban member has killed three members of his family, including his wife, brother, and nephew, in Khanjan district of the province. According to sources, the incident occurred on Saturday, April 19. The Taliban member has been identified as Abdullah Safai. He reportedly killed his wife with an axe, and then shot and killed his brother and nephew. Information obtained indicates that Abdullah had a history of domestic violence and had joined the Taliban in 2017 after murdering his first wife. Local sources cited family disputes and a land conflict as the reasons behind the incident. So far, Taliban officials in Baghlan have not commented on the case. It is worth noting that some individuals within the Taliban ranks have criminal backgrounds, including involvement in murder, theft, and domestic violence.

Photo: UN Photo/Fardin Waez The International Rescue Committee has expressed concern over the reduction of U.S. financial aid to Afghanistan and emphasized that this funding cut has deprived 300,000 children of access to education. In a report, the committee stated that the restrictions imposed by the Taliban on women and girls have had destructive impacts on families in Afghanistan. According to the report, in areas lacking schools, the committee had initiated community-based education programs, but due to the reduction in financial aid in 2025, these programs were halted, resulting in 300,000 children losing educational opportunities. The International Rescue Committee has warned that with the reduction of U.S. financial aid, Afghan families are increasingly being pushed towards a crisis. The report further states that U.S. financial aid to the committee enables the provision of critical services, including medical treatments, cash assistance, educational programs, and other essential services to vulnerable families and communities. These concerns are raised at a time when the reduction in U.S. financial aid to Afghanistan has led to the closure of many relief organizations in the country.

Photo by ATIF ARYAN/AFP via Getty Images The United Nations Women’s Section states that more than 70% of Afghan women face serious challenges in accessing humanitarian aid. This organization recently published a report on the status of Afghan women's access to humanitarian aid in 2024 and warned that gender inequalities, widespread Taliban restrictions, and structural barriers have intensified vulnerabilities across all areas of aid delivery. According to the report, regulations such as the requirement of a male guardian’s accompaniment, dress restrictions, and the prohibition of women's work in non-governmental organizations and United Nations offices have severely limited women's access to essential services, including health, education, and nutrition. UN Women added that the ban on girls' education beyond primary school has reduced future job opportunities and perpetuated the cycle of poverty. According to this organization, while education is recognized as a vital necessity, only 43% of girls of school age are enrolled, and almost no girls between the ages of 13 to 17 attend school. The report also shows that female-headed households are disproportionately under economic pressure and face risks due to housing and food shortages. The UN stated that some families have been forced to take survival measures, such as skipping meals, preventing children from attending school, or resorting to early marriage. On the other hand, the shortage of female health workers, movement restrictions, and financial issues have severely limited women's access to healthcare and worsened maternal health, fertility, and mental health conditions. Pregnant and breastfeeding women also face the risk of malnutrition. UN Women has warned that women and girls in Afghanistan are facing increasing threats, including gender-based violence, early marriages, and displacement, and the restrictions on their participation in social decision-making are further marginalizing their position. This report has been published as the Taliban, after taking control of Afghanistan, have deprived women and girls of work and education. Over the past four years, this group has intensified its restrictions.

Photo: X/UNReliefChief Tom Fletcher, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations for Humanitarian Affairs, said during his trip to Afghanistan that development is not possible without education and full participation of girls. On Monday (28 April), he wrote on his X account that discussing the "enormous capacity" of Afghan women is at the top of his agenda during this trip to the country. Mr. Fletcher made these remarks after meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, the acting Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Taliban. He described the meeting as "practical" and added that humanitarian challenges, including climate change, insecurity, and narcotics issues, were discussed during the meeting. This comes as the Taliban, after taking power, have imposed extensive restrictions against women and girls, including the ban on women's employment in United Nations offices and their deprivation of education.

social media Local sources in Daikundi province have reported the poisoning of dozens of female students in the schools of Kiti and Shahristan districts. According to the sources, on Wednesday morning (May 7), female students at the Kiti Girls' School suddenly showed symptoms of severe itching, nausea, and shortness of breath. The number of affected students is reported to be between 40 and 50. Sources confirmed that these students were transferred to the Kiti district clinic, and the condition of some of them has been described as critical. The cause of the poisoning is still unknown, but some students said they smelled a strange odor in the classrooms before the symptoms appeared. Meanwhile, health sources in the center of Daikundi stated that female students in the "Chah Chah" area of Shahristan district were also poisoned. The health status of these students has been described as stable. So far, local Taliban officials in Daikundi have not commented on the incident. It is worth mentioning that similar cases of poisoning were reported last year at the Tamran Girls' High School in Kiti district.

Sent to Zan TV The Lantern of Freedom Movement of Afghan Women has expressed concern in a statement regarding the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)'s consultations about handing over Afghanistan's permanent UN seat to the Taliban. The movement described this action as an attempt to gradually legitimize the Taliban and ignore the rights of the Afghan people. According to the statement released by the movement, initiating these consultations while the Taliban lacks any popular or legal legitimacy is a worrying step towards disregarding the will and rights of the Afghan people. The movement emphasized that the Taliban, through their "authoritarian" practices, systematic exclusion of women from social spheres, and suppression of fundamental freedoms, have repeatedly proven that they do not represent the real voice of the Afghan people. The movement also referenced the United Nations' "Mosaic Plan," launched by UNAMA to create an inclusive framework for dialogue with all stakeholders in Afghanistan. According to the Lantern of Freedom's statement, this initiative is proceeding without the genuine participation of the people, especially women, and risks becoming a tool for legitimizing the Taliban instead of facilitating national dialogue. One of the movement's members stated, "The United Nations, as the largest human rights authority, should not engage with the terrorist Taliban. No country in the world has the right to shake hands with the blood-stained hands of the Taliban." The Lantern of Freedom Movement called on the international community, human rights organizations, and the United Nations to pay greater attention to the will and rights of the Afghan people in decisions related to Afghanistan's political future. The movement also stressed the need to review the current processes. It is worth mentioning that the "Mosaic Plan," introduced by UNAMA, aims to create a dialogue space among all political and social stakeholders in Afghanistan. This plan is designed to facilitate the peace process and establish a framework for political engagement in Afghanistan. However, some human rights activists and civil society groups have expressed concerns that it could potentially lead to the legitimization of the Taliban.

Sent to Zan TV The Women's Yell Movement of Afghanistan has expressed concern over the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA)'s consultations regarding the potential handover of Afghanistan's permanent UN seat to the Taliban. The movement described this as a "misogynistic and human rights-violating" act, warning that such a decision would mean legitimizing a repressive regime that is an open enemy of fundamental freedoms in Afghanistan. In a statement released by the movement, it emphasized that granting Afghanistan's UN seat to the Taliban is not only a betrayal of the blood of thousands of Afghan men and women who sacrificed their lives for rights, justice, and freedom but also a "blatant disregard for the UN's principles and commitments to human rights and women's rights." The Women's Yell Movement asserted that the Taliban, through systematic oppression and the removal of women's and girls' rights, do not represent the people of Afghanistan in any legitimate or popular way. Their access to Afghanistan's UN seat would be an attempt to normalize a regime that violates human rights. The movement warned that granting Afghanistan's seat to the Taliban would encourage the repetition of crimes, oppression, and violations of freedoms in other parts of the world. The statement declared, "The United Nations should not become a platform for legitimizing human rights violators." The Women's Yell Movement called on human rights, feminist, and democratic organizations worldwide to stand against this possible decision. Since coming to power in Afghanistan, the Taliban have issued more than 80 decrees that have stripped women and girls of all their rights. These restrictions have led to the exclusion of women from public life and forced them into domestic confinement. Furthermore, the United Nations has recently launched consultations under the name "Mosaic Initiative" for Afghanistan's political future. This initiative, led by UNAMA, aims to create an inclusive framework for dialogue with all stakeholders. However, many women's rights activists view this plan as an attempt to legitimize and normalize global relations with the Taliban.

Photo: AP Under the Taliban regime, Afghan women are not only deprived of the right to education, work, and freedom but are also increasingly subjected to torture, humiliation, and medieval punishments. Safia and Aisha, two women from the provinces of Sar-e Pul and Takhar, share shocking accounts of their arrest, torture, and flogging at the hands of the Taliban, only for not having a “mahram” or not wearing a burqa. Tortured for Going to the Market Without a Mahram Safia (a pseudonym), a 29-year-old mother of two from Sar-e Pul, says that in November last year, she was arrested by Taliban officers from the Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice simply because she went to the market with her cousin to buy groceries. “When they stopped us, they asked my cousin who I was. He said, ‘She’s my cousin, her husband is in Iran, and I came to help her.’ But they said we had an illicit relationship. They beat us in front of people and forced us into their vehicle.” Safia recounts that after being taken to the investigation office, she never saw her cousin again. She was taken to a dark room where three Taliban members began interrogating her. “They asked what kind of relationship I had with him. I said he’s my cousin, like my brother. But they threatened that if I didn’t confess, I would be tortured.” The Taliban tortured her with electric shocks to force her to confess to having a relationship with her cousin. “They applied electric shocks to my body. Out of fear and pain, I was forced to make a false confession.” A few days later, Safia and her cousin were tried in a Taliban court, and both were sentenced to 39 lashes. “The pain of the lashes wasn’t only on my body, it wounded my soul. Since that day, I am no longer the woman or mother who could take care of her children. At night, I still hear the sound of the lashes striking my back.” Scars are still visible on Safia’s hands, which she says are from electric torture; a method documented in Amnesty International’s reports as one of the Taliban’s tools of abuse. Punished for Not Wearing a Burqa Aisha (a pseudonym), a 21-year-old woman from Takhar, has a similar story. She says she was arrested by the Taliban simply because she was not wearing a burqa, even though she was wearing a hijab. “They said, ‘Why aren’t you wearing a chadari (burqa)?’ When I said I have a hijab and that wearing a chadari is not obligatory in Islam, one of them slapped me across the face.” She was taken to a detention center where about twenty other women were held in one room and were not given food. After a few days, her case was sent to a Taliban court. “I had no lawyer. The judge sentenced me to 25 lashes for improper hijab.” Aisha continues with a trembling voice: “They flogged me in public, in front of people’s eyes. They kept me in prison for another week until my wounds healed.” She says that after being released, she suffered a psychological breakdown, and even her close friends distanced themselves from her. “They called me a prostitute… because they had been told lies. No one understands what it feels like to be flogged in public; to be covered and beaten…” The stories of Safia and Aisha are only two examples among hundreds of similar cases. Since the Taliban’s return to power in 2021, violence, humiliation, and corporal punishment against women have become institutionalized policies. According to media reports and official documents from the Taliban’s Supreme Court, in the past two years alone, more than 1,050 people, including at least 200 women, have been flogged in public. The actual numbers are believed to be much higher. Many women are arrested and punished for accusations such as not having a male guardian, improper hijab, or speaking with unrelated men. International human rights organizations have repeatedly warned about these abuses. Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International have described the Taliban’s corporal punishments, torture, and desert trials as clear violations of international law and human rights. Yet the Taliban continue to justify these acts under the pretext of “implementing Sharia” and refuse to answer to international institutions. Names have been changed to protect the interviewees’ safety. This report is based on direct interviews with victims.

Photo: AP The British newspaper The Guardian , in collaboration with Zan Times , an Afghan news agency, has published a report detailing the arrest, forced confessions, and punishment of women by the Taliban. The report, published today, Tuesday (May 6), features the accounts of three Afghan women who were detained without having committed any specific crime and were publicly flogged after being coerced into confessions. One of the women, named Diba, said she was arrested twice by the Taliban simply for leaving her home without a male guardian. The first time, she was held for four nights. Three months later, she was arrested again while visiting a restaurant without a male escort and spent 20 days in prison. During this second detention, Diba was sentenced to 28 lashes. However, the Taliban released her after one week so that the wounds would be less visible. The report also recounts the story of a 22-year-old woman from a western province of Afghanistan who was detained by the Taliban’s morality police while traveling with her cousin. Under pressure, she was forced to falsely confess to being in a “relationship,” and she was threatened that her cousin would be killed if she refused. Another case in the report involves a 16-year-old girl who was arrested for not having a male guardian and sentenced to 39 lashes. Her family stated that the experience caused severe psychological trauma and resulted in frequent nervous breakdowns. According to the report, since the Taliban's return to power in 2021, more than 1,000 people have been publicly flogged, with at least 200 of them being women. However, it is believed that the actual number of summary trials and punishments is significantly higher than what has been reported.

Social Media A traffic accident on the Samangan–Balkh highway has left three people dead and 33 others injured, including women and children. According to Taliban local officials, the incident occurred on Tuesday morning (May 6) in the “Golayi Kaftar Khana” area of Khulm district in Samangan province. Hashmatullah Rahmani, spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Samangan, stated that women and children were among those injured. He added that all the injured have been transferred to the hospital and that the cause of the accident was driver negligence. It is worth noting that traffic accidents in Afghanistan claim hundreds of lives each year.