Social Media As a result of a shell explosion in Shirzad district of Nangarhar province, a woman has been killed and a child injured. Local sources say the incident occurred around 11:00 a.m. on Saturday (21 June) in the village of Shawali in Shirzad district. According to sources, the incident happened when the woman and the child were grazing their livestock in the mountains. It is said that the woman, who was approximately 45 years old, died from severe injuries while being transported to the hospital, and the eight-year-old child was also injured. So far, no specific information has been provided about the child’s medical condition. Meanwhile, Taliban local officials in Nangarhar have not commented on the incident yet. This incident comes as explosive remnants of war from past decades continue to claim the lives of civilians across Afghanistan. According to a recent report by the international organization HALO Trust, more than 80 percent of mine victims in Afghanistan are children.

Photo: 8ammedia A woman in Qhor Mach district of Badghis province who had been imprisoned at home by her husband for five years has been rescued. Mawlawi Sibghatullah Samim, head of publications at the Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice in Badghis, confirmed the incident on Sunday (22 June), saying that after the woman’s family filed a complaint with the department, its officers took action to free her. According to Samim, the Taliban’s moral police, after reviewing the case, “advised” the woman’s husband and considered his actions contrary to Islamic values and principles of human rights. The Taliban said the man has also expressed regret for his actions. This comes as the Taliban are trying to portray themselves as defenders of women’s rights by highlighting such cases, while in reality, since returning to power, they have imposed widespread restrictions, including bans on work, education, and schooling for women, effectively forcing millions of women into house arrest and social isolation. The Taliban’s Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice is a body that has repeatedly been cited in reports as responsible for the detention, threats, and violent treatment of women in public places due to their attire or presence in society. Many women’s rights activists consider this department a tool of systematic control and suppression of women. The five-year imprisonment of this woman is just one of dozens of cases recorded under the vulnerable conditions of Taliban-ruled Afghanistan, where women are not only victims of patriarchal traditions but also of a regime that derives legitimacy by erasing and silencing them.

Social Media The family of Zalaala Hashemi, the missing Afghan singer, says the Taliban have pressured them to say Zalaala was not kidnapped, but rather left home of her own will. This comes as more than two weeks have passed since the mysterious disappearance of this female artist in Kabul, and there is still no information about her fate. Members of Zalaala’s family told the media that in a petition to the Taliban security institutions, they wrote that Zalaala had been kidnapped, but Taliban officers told them they must write “runaway from home” instead of “kidnapped”. One of Zalaala Hashemi’s relatives said, “In the early days, we went to the Ministry of Interior and the 17th District of the Taliban, but to this day they have given us no information. Instead of helping to find Zalaala, they are pressuring us to accept that she left home on her own.” According to this source, Taliban officers asked Zalaala’s family not to publicize the matter. Earlier, Seyed Mohsen Hashemi, Zalaala’s husband, said in a video on Thursday (19 June) that Zalaala was kidnapped 15 days ago in Kabul, and so far there is no clue as to whether she is alive or dead. However, the spokesperson for the Taliban police command in Kabul wrote on his official X account that “Ms. Zalaala left home on her own and was not kidnapped.” It is worth noting that Zalaala Hashemi rose to fame in 2017 by participating in the music program “Afghan Star” on the private Tolo TV and was one of the few female singers to reach the final stages of the competition. She has a four-year-old son, and her family says that since her disappearance, he has been in poor health. More than two weeks have passed since the incident, and there is still no news about Zalaala’s fate.

Photo: HOSHANG HASHIMI | AFP via Getty Images Zabihullah Mujahid, spokesperson for the Taliban group, has rejected the latest report by the United Nations Secretary-General on the situation in Afghanistan, calling it “false propaganda” aimed at damaging the image of the group. Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary-General, in his quarterly report published on Thursday (19 June), revealed the worsening humanitarian situation, widespread oppression of women and girls, and human rights violations in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. On Saturday (21 June), Mujahid claimed in a statement that security in Afghanistan has improved and the people of the country are living in “peace”. He described the UN report as an attempt to “worry public opinion” and said that this international body, by ignoring progress and exaggerating minor incidents, has portrayed a negative image of Afghanistan. These claims come as the UN Secretary-General emphasized in his report that the Taliban’s repressive policies have deepened the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. The report states that the people of Afghanistan are struggling with major challenges such as widespread poverty, unemployment, natural disasters, and a repressive government. The report also criticizes the implementation of the Taliban’s restrictive laws, including the “promotion of virtue and prevention of vice” law, stressing that these policies have caused serious harm, especially to women and girls. These laws have deprived women of basic rights such as education, employment, and social participation, pushing millions of families into hardship. Guterres also expressed concern about the reduction of global aid to Afghanistan and warned that this decrease has further worsened the situation for millions of people. Another section of the report refers to severe restrictions on the media, arbitrary detention of journalists, and reports of torture and extrajudicial executions; all of which, according to the United Nations, represent a clear violation of the Taliban’s commitment to general amnesty. At the end of his report, the UN Secretary-General stressed that the people of Afghanistan cannot cope with these crises alone and that the international community must take immediate and effective action to reduce their suffering. However, the Taliban spokesperson, by rejecting this report, has once again attempted to deny the existing realities in Afghanistan and present an unrealistic picture of the country’s situation.

© 2024/AP Photos/Fariba Akbari via AP Images Girls Deprived of Education: They impose Sharia on us, but the women and girls of the Taliban are studying in the West without hijab. Girls whose right to education and learning has been taken away by the gender-exclusive and misogynistic Taliban government complain about the group’s double standards, saying that after the fall of the republican system and the Taliban’s rise to power, a dark chapter began in the lives of Afghan women and girls. They say that on one hand, the Taliban, by issuing their illegitimate decrees, have declared education and learning forbidden for women and girls based on their self-made Sharia, while on the other hand, the women and girls of this group are studying without hijab in Western universities and schools under American supervision. Sajida, a girl deprived of education, has turned to a weaving workshop to escape the trap of being confined at home and psychological problems. While hatred toward the Taliban and sorrow over her lost dreams are visible on her face, she says in a choked voice that the Taliban, by closing the school gates, have not only taken away her right to education but have also buried her alive. She describes the beginning of the Taliban’s gender-exclusive rule as the start of a dark chapter in the lives of women and girls in Afghanistan: “From the day the Taliban took power, the dark chapter of life for us women and girls began. The Taliban have buried me and all Afghan girls alive, because when we do not have the right to study and learn, when we do not have the right to go outside the house, then there is no difference from being buried alive.” She raises her voice, woven with hatred, anger, and despair, and says: “The Taliban only impose and enforce their self-made Islam on us. Today, look at the daughters of these self-righteous men studying abroad without hijab, not in an Islamic school, but under the supervision of American and Western teachers; yet for us, they issue a decree declaring education forbidden.” It is not only Sajida who is submerged in the waves of despair, but also Mursal, who has withered like a marigold flower under the Taliban’s ban. With a deep sigh torn from her heart, she says the Taliban are playing with the fate of millions of women and girls in the country. “I will never forget the last day of school. I cried a lot that day. I will never forget how the Taliban played with my fate and that of millions like me, and they continue with this game. Why should women be confined to the home? While the Taliban taking their women to restaurants.” Mursal, who has taken red threads in her hand to weave a loofah bag, stops working and says with a voice full of grief, mixed with anger and rage: “Are the women and girls of Afghanistan curtains to be kept inside the house, or utensils in the kitchen? By closing the doors of schools and universities, the Taliban have not only confined girls to their homes but have turned homes into graveyards for the living dead.” After a brief pause, she wipes away a tear and continues: “All that’s left is for the Taliban to say in a few days that women are not allowed to breathe and that, according to Sharia, women must be buried alive. All these decrees originate from and are issued based on the Taliban’s self-made Sharia.” In another corner of this weaving workshop is Nazanin, another 10th-grade student who found her way to this workshop with the guidance and help of her classmates. She says that while the rights of women and girls have been taken away by the Taliban, most of them are afraid to speak about the bans or criticize the group for fear of being arrested by the Taliban. “Even we cannot raise our voices, because they have taken that right from us too. If the Taliban even find out that we are talking about our rights, they arrest and torture us. Hundreds of women and girls in the country are rotting in Taliban prisons for the same crime of demanding or expressing their rights.” Nazanin, referring to her own life situation and that of other girls, says her only dream was to become a doctor and serve the people, a dream that has now ended with thread and needle in weaving. “I only hoped and wished to become a doctor and serve my people, but what I see today and the work I do here is very different. Although I have come here for not surrendering to the Taliban’s rules, I hate doing this job. The only thing that gives me strength to come here is the presence of other girls in the workshop and our refusal to bow to the oppression of the Taliban, who try to keep us confined at home.” According to women and girls, in the nearly four years since the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan, a dark and difficult chapter has been written for women and girls by this group, and every day with the issuance of their misogynistic decrees, life becomes harder for girls. This is while human rights organizations and various countries around the world have continuously spoken out against the inhumane treatment of women and girls by the Taliban and have shown strong reactions, but so far no country or international organization has taken any effective action to free women and girls from the trap of the Taliban’s restrictions.

Photo: GETTY IMAGES The International Cycling Union has announced that the Afghan women’s cycling championship will be held during the World Cycling Championships in France. In this competition, Afghan female cyclists will ride the 115.5 km route that French athletes also compete on. The event will be held on June 28, and three of these athletes will also compete in the time trial section on June 26. Fariba Hashimi, the champion of the 2022 Afghan women's competition in Switzerland, is one of the five athletes participating in this event. She told the media, “I am emotionally ready to defend the championship title. Obviously, I hope to win, but I also hope this event will make other athletes shine.” It is worth mentioning that despite competing at the same time as French athletes, a separate ranking will be used to decide the championship of the Afghan women’s cycling team. Meanwhile, David Lappartient, president of the International Cycling Union, said, “Seeing the best Afghan women cyclists competing again in their national championship will undoubtedly be an emotional and proud moment, three years on from the last edition,” This comes as, following the Taliban's takeover in 2021, women in Afghanistan have been completely banned from sports, and girls above the sixth grade are not allowed to continue their education. Female athletes, including cyclists, have been forced to leave the country.

Social Media The Taliban, during the past week, flogged 10 people including four women in the provinces of Badakhshan, Faryab and Parwan on various charges in public. The Taliban Supreme Court in a statement said that on Wednesday (18 June), a woman and a man in Yaftal district of Badakhshan province were publicly flogged 39 times each on charges of "running away from home" and "helping someone escape from home". Also, the court added in another statement that on Thursday, another woman and man in Pashtun Kot district of Faryab province were publicly flogged on charges of "running away from home" and "illegitimate relationship". According to the court, each of them received 39 lashes and one was sentenced to eight months and the other to one year in prison. Meanwhile, on Monday and Tuesday in the districts of Salang and Jabal al-Siraj in Parwan province, six people including two women were flogged 39 times each on charges of "adultery" and "murder" and were sentenced to prison terms ranging from nine months to five years. This comes as since the return of the Taliban to power, the group has repeatedly carried out public floggings and executions which have drawn widespread domestic and international reactions. Human rights organizations consider such punishments to be violations of human dignity and contrary to international law.

Social Media Local sources have reported the abduction of Zalala Hashemi, an Afghan singer, in Kabul. Local sources in Kabul say that Zalala Hashemi, a young Afghan female artist, mysteriously disappeared around 16 days ago in Kabul, and there is still no news about her whereabouts. Seyed Mohsen Hashemi, Zalala’s husband, said in a video released to the media on Thursday (June 19) that Zalala left the house to meet her friends and since then, he has no information about her and her phones are switched off. According to him, despite many efforts to find Zalala, no clues have been found about whether she is alive or dead. It is worth noting that Zalala Hashemi rose to fame in 2017 after participating in the music program “Afghan Star,” which was broadcast by the private TV channel TOLO. With her performances in both Persian and Pashto, she was one of the few female singers who reached the top stages of the competition. Following her disappearance, a number of women’s rights activists have expressed concern on social media. Aryana Sayeed, a well-known Afghan singer, wrote in a Facebook post on Friday (June 20) that Zalala has been abducted and called for urgent and comprehensive action by human rights and international organizations to find and free her. At the same time, a video of Zalala’s four-year-old son has been circulated on social media, in which he tearfully pleads for his mother’s return. Zalala’s family says the child’s health condition is also worrying. Despite more than two weeks having passed, Taliban security institutions have not made any official statement about the disappearance of this singer. This comes as the Taliban, after returning to power in 2021, declared music and artistic activities forbidden and called on artists to turn to other professions.

Photo: againstthecompass Local sources in Kandahar province say that a pregnant woman in this province was hanged and killed by her husband with a rope. This incident occurred on Monday (June 16) in the center of Spin Boldak district. According to sources, the woman, named "Sayeda," was six months pregnant and was killed after a verbal argument with her husband. Local Taliban officials in Kandahar have not yet commented on the incident. It is worth noting that a week earlier, a man in the fifth district of Kandahar city had also beheaded and killed his wife with a knife. Since the Taliban regained control of Afghanistan, numerous cases of women being killed by family members have been reported, many of which are attributed to domestic violence.

Photo: REUTERS/Parwiz The UN Women section has stated in its recent report that about 80 percent of young women in Afghanistan are deprived of education, schooling, and employment. In this report, published on Tuesday (June 17) regarding Afghanistan's gender index in 2024, it is mentioned that after the Taliban’s takeover, Afghanistan is experiencing the second-largest gender gap in the world, ranking just after Yemen. According to the findings of this index, the inequality between women and men in areas such as health, education, financial access, and participation in decision-making reaches 76 percent. Sima Bahous, Executive Director of UN Women, expressed concern about the current situation and said, "The greatest asset of Afghanistan is its women and girls. Their potential continues to be ignored, but they stand firm, support each other, start businesses, provide humanitarian services, and raise their voices against injustice." The report also states that only 17 percent of Afghan women are able to fully utilize their capacities in terms of choice and access to opportunities, while the global average for this index is 60.7 percent. The report further emphasizes that 78 percent of young Afghan women are neither in education, nor employed, nor in skills training. According to the report, following the ban on secondary and higher education for girls, including medical education, the graduation rate for girls from secondary school will soon drop to zero. On the other hand, the gender gap in Afghanistan’s labor market is also described as deep and alarming. According to the report, only 24 percent of Afghan women participate in the labor market, while this figure is 89 percent for men. This comes as, after the Taliban's return to power, girls and women have been deprived of their most basic human rights, including the right to education, work, and social participation.