UN-Habitat reports that millions in Afghanistan, especially in informal settlements, lack access to clean water, requiring urgent intervention.
The United Nations Human Settlements Programme has reported that many Afghanistan’s citizens, particularly those living in informal settlements, lack access to basic healthcare and clean drinking water, requiring urgent intervention.
According to UN-Habitat, the lack of essential infrastructure in numerous regions of Afghanistan has left a significant portion of the population, especially in informal settlements, without access to clean water and primary healthcare services.
In a message shared on social media platform X on Tuesday, April 15, the agency emphasized the importance of clean water and its role in public health and resilient communities.
The message further stated, “UN-Habitat highlights that water is vital for human dignity, health, and resilient communities, yet many in Afghanistan lack access to it.
The agency also added that “The UN-Habitat emphasizes the importance of water resources management and access to safe water and sanitation for eradicating poverty, building peaceful and prosperous societies, and ensuring no one is left behind in sustainable development.”
Afghanistan has faced numerous crises in recent years, including drought, internal migration, the collapse of infrastructure, and reduced international support. This situation has severely impacted access to clean drinking water and healthcare services, particularly in the outskirts of cities and underserved areas.
International organizations have repeatedly called for immediate action to improve living conditions for millions of Afghans, emphasizing the critical need for sustainable water supply and healthcare infrastructure.
Efforts to address these urgent needs are crucial to ensure the well-being and resilience of vulnerable populations in Afghanistan. With ongoing support and collaboration, there is hope to restore essential services and improve the overall quality of life for the people of Afghanistan.
Millions in Afghanistan lack access to clean water: UN-Habitat
Meanwhile, some of the recently deported refugees say they face serious challenges, including lack of shelter, emergency aid, and employment opportunities.
Zalmay Khalilzad, the former US special representative for Afghanistan peace, has warned that Pakistan might use the refugee deportation process as a cover to send ISIS fighters into Afghanistan.
Khalilzad wrote on X: “Knowledgeable people tell me that they are concerned that the Pakistan establishment might well be using the expulsion of Afghan refugees as a cover to send ISIS terrorist to Afghanistan. I share this concern.”
“Given the concerns of the international community, especially those of Khalilzad and other organizations, there is no doubt that Pakistan may once again use the pretext of forcibly deporting Afghan refugees to infiltrate ISIS or other terrorist fighters into Afghanistan, which would cause instability and chaos in the region,” said Najib Rahman Shamal, a political analyst.
Meanwhile, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) announced that nearly 60,000 Afghan refugees were returned via Torkham and Spin Boldak in the first two weeks of this month.
Mohammad Osman Azizi, IOM communications associate, told TOLOnews: “The situation is rapidly heading toward crisis. In just the first two weeks of April, around 60,000 undocumented Afghans were forcibly returned through Torkham and Spin Boldak. Of these, the organization has provided assistance to 16,000 individuals.”
Meanwhile, some of the recently deported refugees say they face serious challenges, including lack of shelter, emergency aid, and employment opportunities.
“Right after Eid, Pakistan began deporting Afghan refugees. My children are left without a future. Refugees are facing severe problems,” Abdul Qudoos, a deportee, told TOLOnews.
“I was born in Pakistan. I had a job and a shop there. I returned with nothing and now face serious economic difficulties,” said another deportee.
According to IOM data, from September 2023 to April 2025, over 2.4 million Afghan refugees have returned from Pakistan and Iran, 54% of whom were forcibly deported.
Khalilzad: Pakistan Might Send ISIS to Afghanistan via Refugees
Nooruddin Turabi said that Afghanistan needs extensive cooperation from the international community in mine clearance efforts.
The National Disaster Management Authority (ANDMA) held a special event in Kabul to mark International Mine Awareness Day.
During the event, Nooruddin Rustamkhil, head of the Mine Action Coordination Authority, stated that approximately 1,150 square kilometers of Afghan territory remains contaminated with landmines and unexploded ordnance (UXOs).
Nooruddin Rustamkhil, head of the Mine Action Coordination Authority, said: “In 2024, approximately 103 square kilometers have been cleared of mines and unexploded ordnance. It is worth noting that after the end of the war, landmines and unexploded ordnance have remained the primary cause of civilian deaths in the country.”
Nisar Ahmad Omarzai, representative of demining organizations, said: “Our request to the officials of the Islamic Emirate is to cooperate with organizations across all areas of the country and to continue supporting them.”
Meanwhile, the acting director of the National Disaster Management Authority said that Afghanistan needs extensive cooperation from the international community in mine clearance efforts. He also said that necessary facilities will be provided for demining organizations to operate.
Nooruddin Turabi, acting director of the National Disaster Management Authority, said: “To every organization that is working in the mine sector in Afghanistan, I assure you that we will advance your work with great speed.”
In the meeting, Nick Pond, UN chief of the Mine Action Programme in Afghanistan, stated that in the past year, 79% of landmine and unexploded ordnance victims in Afghanistan were children.
He also warned that budget cuts in 2025 will reduce the number of demining personnel to less than one-third.
“Improved security has increased access to many areas that were previously inaccessible in Afghanistan, presenting new risks to a population unfamiliar with contaminated terrain. UNAMA estimates that 600,000 returnees will enter Afghanistan in 2025, and that number could be as high as 1.4 million. These returnees need explosive ordnance risk education on arrival to inform them of the dangers, as well as clearance and quick response teams to support any new areas of settlement, ” Nick Pond said.
Gholam Reza Najjar, deputy ambassador of Iran in Kabul, said: “We hope the international community will take a more focused and renewed look at Afghanistan, because Afghanistan is one of the countries affected by the landmine issue.”
Meanwhile, Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy minister of economy, said that mine clearance is not only important from a humanitarian perspective but can also contribute to the country’s economic growth and job creation.
This meeting was held to mark International Mine Awareness Day, which is observed annually on April 4 in various countries around the world.
Afghanistan and the Scourge of Landmines: A Call for Global Support
Carpet weaving is one of few professions open to women since the Taliban government took power in 2021
At a workshop in Kabul where carpets are made, hundreds of women and girls work in a cramped space, the air thick and stifling.
Among them is 19-year-old Salehe Hassani. “We girls no longer have the chance to study,” she says with a faltering smile. “The circumstances have taken that from us, so we turned to the workshop.”
Since the Taliban seized power in 2021, girls over the age of 12 have been barred from getting an education, and women from many jobs.
In 2020, only 19% of women were part of the workforce – four times less than men. That number has dropped even further under Taliban rule.
The lack of opportunities, coupled with the dire economic situation the country faces, have pushed many into long, laborious days of carpet weaving – one of the few trades the Taliban government allows women to work in.
According to the UN, the livelihoods of about 1.2 to 1.5 million Afghans depend on the carpet weaving industry, with women making up nearly 90% of the workforce.
In an economy that the UN warned in a 2024 report had “basically collapsed” since the Taliban took power, the carpet export business is booming.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce noted that in the first six months of 2024 alone, over 2.4 million kilograms of carpets – worth $8.7m (£6.6m) – were exported to countries such as Pakistan, India, Austria and the US.
But this has not necessarily meant better wages for the weavers. Some the BBC spoke to said they had seen none of the profit from a piece sold in Kazakhstan last year that fetched $18,000.
Nisar Ahmad Hassieni employs about 600 women across three workshops
Within Afghanistan, carpets sell for far less – between $100-$150 per square metre. Needing money to help support their families and having few options for employment, workers are trapped in low-paid labour.
Carpet weavers say they earn about $27 for each square metre, which usually takes about a month to produce. That is less than a dollar a day despite the long, gruelling shifts that often stretch to 10 or 12 hours.
Nisar Ahmad Hassieni, head of the Elmak Baft company, who let the BBC go inside his workshops, said that he pays his employees between $39 and $42 per square metre. He said they are paid every two weeks, with an eight-hour workday.
The Taliban has repeatedly said that girls will be allowed to return to school once its concerns, such as aligning the curriculum with Islamic values, are resolved – but so far, no concrete steps have been taken to make that happen.
Mr Hassieni said that, following the rise of the Taliban government, his organisation made it its mission to support those left behind by the closures.
“We established three workshops for carpet weaving and wool spinning,” he says.
“About 50-60% of these rugs are exported to Pakistan, while the rest are sent to China, the USA, Turkey, France, and Russia to meet customer demand.”
Many of the weavers were forced out of education or professional careers
Shakila, 22, makes carpets with her sisters in one of the rooms of the modest rental they also share with their elderly parents and three brothers. They live in the impoverished Dasht-e Barchi area, in the western outskirts of Kabul.
She once had dreams of becoming a lawyer but now leads her family’s carpet-making operation.
“We couldn’t do anything else,” Shakila tells me. “There weren’t any other jobs”.
She explains how her father taught her to weave when she was 10 and he was recovering from a car accident.
What began as a necessary skill in times of hardship has now become the family’s lifeline.
Shakila’s sister, 18-year-old Samira, aspired to be a journalist. Mariam, 13, was forced to stop going to school before she could even begin to dream of a career.
Before the Taliban’s return, all three were students at Sayed al-Shuhada High School.
Their lives were forever altered after deadly bombings at the school in 2021 killed 90 people, mostly young girls, and left nearly 300 wounded.
The previous government blamed the Taliban for the attack, though the group denied any involvement.
Fearing another tragedy, their father made the decision to withdraw them from school.
Samira aspired to be a journalist and says she wants to finish her studies
Samira, who was at the school when the attacks happened, has been left traumatised, speaking with a stutter and struggling to express herself. Still, she says she would do anything to return to formal education.
“I really wanted to finish my studies,” she says. “Now that the Taliban are in power, the security situation has improved and there have been fewer suicide bombings.
“But the schools are still closed. That’s why we have to work.”
Despite the low pay and long hours of work these women face, the spirits of some are unbroken.
Back at one of the workshops, Salehe, determined and hopeful, confided that she had been studying English for the past three years.
“Even though schools and universities are closed, we refuse to stop our education,” she says.
One day, Salehe adds, she plans to become a leading doctor and build the best hospital in Afghanistan.
The Taliban banned Afghan girls from school. Low-paid carpet weaving is now their lifeline
Action Against Hunger initially stopped all U.S.-funded activities in March after the money dried up suddenly. But it kept the most critical services going in northeastern Badakhshan province and the capital Kabul through its own budget, a measure that stopped this month.
Its therapeutic feeding unit in Kabul is empty and closing this week. There are no patients, and staff contracts are ending because of the U.S. funding cuts.
“If we don’t treat children with acute malnutrition there is a very high risk of (them) dying,” Action Against Hunger’s country director, Cobi Rietveld, told The Associated Press. “No child should die because of malnutrition. If we don’t fight hunger, people will die of hunger. If they don’t get medical care, there is a high risk of dying. They don’t get medical care, they die.”
More than 3.5 million children in Afghanistan will suffer from acute malnutrition this year, an increase of 20% from 2024. Decades of conflict — including the 20-year U.S. war with the Taliban — as well as entrenched poverty and climate shocks have contributed to the country’s humanitarian crisis.
Last year, the United States provided 43% of all international humanitarian funding to Afghanistan.
Rietveld said there were other nongovernmental organizations dealing with funding cuts to Afghanistan. “So when we cut the funding, there will be more children who are going to die of malnutrition.”
The children who came to the feeding unit often could not walk or even crawl. Sometimes they were unable to eat because they didn’t have the energy. All the services were provided free of charge, including three meals a day.
Rietveld said children would need to be referred to other places, where there was less capacity and technical knowledge.
Dr. Abdul Hamid Salehi said Afghan mothers were facing a crisis. Poverty levels among families meant it was impossible to treat severely malnourished children in private clinics.
“People used to come to us in large numbers, and they are still hoping and waiting for this funding to be found again or for someone to sponsor us so that we can resume our work and start serving patients once more.”
Afghan children will die because of US funding cuts, aid official says
Nearly 60,000 people have crossed back into Afghanistan since the start of April.
Pakistan has ramped up the forced mass deportation of Afghan refugees and migrants, with nearly 60,000 having crossed the border since the start of April, the United Nations International Organization for Migration (IOM) said.
Nearly three million Afghans in Pakistan are facing deportation after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif announced in October a three-phase plan to send them back to their home country. The IOM said in a statement on Tuesday that it has assisted more than one million people returning from Pakistan and Iran.
Amid the second phase of the plan, the IOM said it had registered a sharp rise in forced returns. Between April 1 and April 13, nearly 60,000 individuals crossed into Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border points, it noted.
“With a new wave of large-scale returns now underway from Pakistan, needs on the ground are rising rapidly – both at the border and in areas of return that are struggling to absorb large numbers of returnees,” said Mihyung Park, head of the agency’s Afghanistan mission.
In March, Islamabad set an early April deadline for some 800,000 people carrying Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) issued by Pakistani authorities to leave the country.
Families with their belongings in tow have crowded key border crossings of Torkham in the north and Spin Boldak in the south, recalling scenes in 2023 when tens of thousands of Afghans fled deportation threats in Pakistan.
Many of the Afghans have been living in Pakistan for decades after fleeing successive conflicts in their country and following the Taliban’s return to power in 2021.
The deportation order came amid a dramatic increase in armed attacks across Pakistan, with the government blaming groups and nationals based in Afghanistan, an allegation the Taliban government in Kabul has rejected.
Among those facing deportation is Afghan journalist Freshta Sadid, who holds a valid exit permit, according to the Joint Action Committee for Refugees.
The group is calling for “urgent action” to protect Sadid, warning that she is on the Taliban “hit list”.
Pakistan is not a signatory to the UN’s 1951 Refugee Convention that protects the rights of refugees.
The country also lacks domestic laws to protect refugees, as well as procedures to determine the status of individuals seeking international protection within its borders.
Sixty-three weapons seized from militants in Pakistan were provided by the U.S. government to Afghan forces during America’s 20-year war, a Post investigation found.
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — On Jan. 9, 2018, an M4A1 carbine rifle left the Colt’s Manufacturing plant in Connecticut, bound for Afghanistan. Last month, it was recovered in the aftermath of a deadly train hijacking by militants in Pakistan.
The banged-up rifle, bearing serial number W1004340 and stamped with the Colt logo, was among billions of dollars’ worth of U.S. military equipment provided to Afghan forces, much of which was abandoned after the withdrawal of American troops in 2021.
Many of the weapons wound up across the border in Pakistan, at arms bazaars and in the hands of insurgents, illustrating how the consequences of America’s failed war continue to reverberate years after the fall of Kabul to the Taliban.
After a decade of progress against militants, Pakistan is now struggling to contain multiple insurgencies — from jihadists in the north to Baloch separatists in the southwest — fueled in part by American weapons.
An M4A1 carbine rifle, shipped from a Colt factory in Connecticut in 2018 as part of security assistance provided to Afghan forces, was recovered by Pakistani forces after a deadly train hijacking last month. (Obtained by The Washington Post)
U.S. assault rifles, machine guns and night-vision goggles, originally meant to help stabilize Afghanistan, are now being used by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and other groups to wreak havoc across this nuclear-armed nation, according to militants, weapons traders and government officials.
“They have the latest American-made weapons,” said Ahmad Hussain, 35, a Pakistani special forces constable who was critically injured in a targeted nighttime attack in northwestern Pakistan last year. “They could see us,” he said, “but we couldn’t see them.”
In May, Pakistani officials gave The Washington Post access to dozens of weapons that they said were seized from captured or killed militants. After months of inquiries, the U.S. Army and the Pentagon confirmed to The Post that 63 weapons that were shown to reporters had been provided by the U.S. government to Afghan forces.
Most were M16 rifles, alongside several, more-modern M4 carbine models. Pakistani officials also displayed a handful of PVS14 night-vision devices, which are used throughout the American armed forces but could not be independently verified as former U.S. government property.
After the March 11 train attack by Baloch militants, which claimed at least 26 lives, Pakistani officials provided serial numbers for three U.S. rifles allegedly used by the attackers. At least two came from U.S. stocks and had been provided to Afghan forces, according to records obtained by The Post through the Freedom of Information Act.
“The presence of US advance weapons … has been an issue of profound concern for the safety and security of Pakistan,” the Pakistani Foreign Ministry wrote in a statement in late January.
President Donald Trump has threatened to permanently cut suspended aid to Afghanistan unless the Taliban returns U.S.-provided military equipment.
“We left billions, tens of billions of dollars’ worth of equipment behind … all the top-of-the-line stuff,” Trump said during his first Cabinet meeting, in February. “I think we should get a lot of that equipment back.”
His remarks have reignited hope in Islamabad that the United States will move more decisively to account for its missing military gear. But most believe it is already too late to stem the flow of illicit arms.
“They’re now the property of Afghanistan,” Zabihullah Mujahid, the Taliban-led government’s chief spokesman, said in response to Trump. “No one can take them away from us.”
Michael Kugelman, a South Asia analyst, said that Pakistan risks “falling back into that terrible period between 2009 and 2014, when the country was a major magnet for terrorism.”
A treasure trove for the Taliban
When the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in August 2021, more than $7 billion in U.S.-provided military equipment was still in the country, a report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, estimated in 2023.
The U.S. military had an uneven record of keeping track of weapons provided to the Afghans, SIGAR concluded, which was exacerbated by its “abrupt and uncoordinated” withdrawal.
Under President Joe Biden, U.S. officials refused to accept responsibility. The Defense Department provided weapons and equipment after “careful end-user considerations including risks of enemy capture,” the Pentagon said in a September statement, and had no intention of recovering them. The materiel “could have been captured by the Taliban and then utilized or transferred elsewhere,” the agency acknowledged.
“Once transferred to the Afghan government, they were the Afghan government’s property and its responsibility,” a senior defense official said in a statement to The Post. The Pentagon declined to disclose the official’s name or justify why they could not provide it. The weapons seized by Pakistan “comprise a minuscule portion of the total we bought for the Afghans over more than a decade,” the official added.
More than a quarter-million rifles were left behind, SIGAR estimated, enough to arm the entire U.S. Marine Corps, as well as nearly 18,000 night-vision goggles, which could outfit the Army’s 82nd Airborne.
Goggles worn by insurgents undercut the technological advantages of modern militaries, which use infrared lasers and strobes to coordinate attacks and keep track of friendly troops. Those devices are invisible to the naked eye but are illuminated by night vision.
“Just after the Taliban takeover, the latest night-vision devices were sold at a scrap rate,” said Raz Muhammad, 60, a Pakistani weapons trader. Around August 2021, the devices, which retail for about $2,000, were being sold for less than $300, he estimated.
Insurgents have paired night vision and thermal equipment with small drones to attack troops with more precision, said Zaheer Hassan, a major in the Pakistani army.
“The battle has become much more dangerous,” said Hassan, who was injured in an attack last year.
Verification requests from The Post revealed occasional slapdash recordkeeping in a Defense Department database that tracks small arms and light weapons. Among the recovered weapons were three M203 grenade launchers that were incorrectly listed as rifles in the database. The launchers attach to the underside of rifles, and someone may have confused the two serial numbers when documenting them, officials said.
Among the other items recovered by Pakistani authorities and shown to The Post were sets of U.S. body armor and piles of ammunition. The Pentagon left behind millions of rounds, SIGAR found, including ammunition for heavy weapons that can penetrate vehicles and bring down aircraft.
A few of the displayed weapons appeared to come from non-U.S. sources. At least one rifle reviewed by The Post was a Norinco CQ-A, a Chinese-made clone of the M4.
Soaring demand
Along Pakistan’s porous border with Afghanistan, illicit weapons bazaars have long done business with militants and other criminals.
One of the oldest markets is in Darra Adamkhel, a town south of Peshawar. Vendors say the market dates back to the first Anglo-Afghan war, in the mid-19th century, when this part of Pakistan was contested between Afghan forces and the British.
But the market’s most dramatic days, at least in recent memory, were prompted by the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan. “The market was flooded with American weapons,” recalled Raz Muhammad.
“Demand was high,” said Qari Shuaib Bajauri, a senior TTP member, adding that his fighters benefited from plummeting prices and abundant supplies. He noted that the boom began even before the U.S. had fully withdrawn from Afghanistan, as a growing number of cities fell to the Afghan Taliban.
The market has maintained its signature smell of gunpowder, and shots often echo from the surrounding mountains. But its busiest days are over.
As Pakistani militants used the weapons to escalate their insurgency, security forces raided regional markets and arrested vendors. The few M4s on sale here are hidden away, and prices have skyrocketed.
But Bajauri said the TTP is still easily able to source illicit gear, giving it an edge over Pakistan’s military.
Recently released propaganda material shows TTP militants with U.S.-made night-vision devices, M4s with thermal optics and rifle-mounted infrared lasers.
A United Nations report last year concluded that Afghan Taliban “rank and file” directly supply the group with weapons and equipment. The TTP and the Afghan Taliban have denied the claims.
An unsettled border
The wave of violence along Pakistan’s restive northwestern border with Afghanistan has led to a severe deterioration in relations between the two countries. In late December, Pakistani airstrikes killed 46 people in eastern Afghanistan.
But Pakistan, once accused of sheltering Afghan Taliban leaders and providing U.S.-made weapons to insurgents in Indian-controlled Kashmir, has struggled to persuade Washington and other foreign players to more aggressively back its counterinsurgency efforts.
The Afghan Taliban has responded angrily to Islamabad’s requests to rein in the TTP, and to Trump’s threats that future aid is dependent on the return of U.S.-provided military equipment.
“The weapons are in the control of the security forces and well guarded in the depot,” Abdul Mateen Qani, a spokesman for the Taliban-run Interior Ministry, wrote on X.
Pakistani officials are pinning their hopes on the Trump administration, despite concerns that the freezing of foreign aid and the suspension of the U.S. refugee admissions program could fuel further instability in the region.
“The Biden administration left the weapons there, and we believe the U.S. should do something about it — whether they buy them from the Afghan Taliban or do something else,” said a Pakistani Foreign Ministry official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to comment publicly.
Hussain, the special forces constable who was injured by militants last year, blames the United States as much as the militants who shot him.
“Both are responsible,” he said.
Horton reported from Washington, Hussain from Islamabad and Nawaz Khan from Darra Adamkhel.
U.S. weapons from Afghan war give Pakistani militants a deadly advantage
Fitrat emphasized that all military equipment left behind by the United States in Afghanistan is under the control of the caretaker government.
The Islamic Emirate has rejected a Washington Post report alleging that US-origin weapons are being smuggled from Afghanistan to Pakistan, saying that such equipment has long existed in black markets.
The deputy spokesman of the Islamic, Emirate Hamdullah Fitrat, emphasized that all military equipment left behind by the United States in Afghanistan is under the control of the caretaker government.
Hamadullah Fitrat, in response to the Washington Post report, said: “All ammunition and military equipment in Afghanistan is securely stored in depots, and every effort has been made to prevent the smuggling of these arms.”
Earlier, the Washington Post published an investigative report claiming that American-made weapons, originally supplied to Afghan security forces during the US military presence, have now fallen into the hands of Tahreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) fighters.
The report claims that 63 weapons seized from militants in Pakistan were originally provided by the US to Afghan forces during its two-decade military mission.
It also alleges that some US-manufactured military gear—such as assault rifles, machine guns, and night vision goggles—is now being used by fighters from TTP and other armed groups.
“US assault rifles, machine guns and night-vision goggles, originally meant to help stabilize Afghanistan, are now being used by the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) and other groups to wreak havoc across this nuclear-armed nation, according to militants, weapons traders and government officials,” the Washington Post said.
Political analyst Ghulam Mohammaduddin Mohammadi said: “The weapons Pakistani officials claim are in the hands of the TTP may actually be the same weapons the US had sent to Afghanistan through Pakistan—with Pakistan’s permission.”
Political analyst Saleem Paigir said: “US weapons have not only remained in Afghanistan; the United States has also sold them to Gulf countries and other parts of the world. Therefore, the presence of such weapons on the other side of the Durand Line doesn’t necessarily mean they were smuggled from Afghanistan. It’s possible they came from the Gulf.”
Meanwhile, US President Donald Trump has previously insisted that Washington wants to retrieve the military equipment left behind in Afghanistan. In response, the Islamic Emirate has consistently stated that this equipment belongs to the Afghan people.
Islamic Emirate Denies Smuggling of US-Origin Weapons to Pakistan
MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Afghan women cricketers will finally get high-level support in a bid to rejoin international competition after the sport’s world governing body created a taskforce to coordinate direct funding, elite coaching and facilities for displaced players.
Dozens of players from Afghanistan’s national women’s team relocated to Australia after the Taliban retook control of the country in 2021 and enforced bans on women’s sports. The players have been seeking official support ever since.
The International Cricket Council released a statement late Sunday saying it reached an agreement with the sport’s national associations in Australia, India and England to support the displaced Afghan women’s players.
ICC chairman Jay Shah said his organization is “deeply committed to fostering inclusivity and ensuring every cricketer has the opportunity to shine, regardless of their circumstances.”
“The ICC believes this (support fund) will not only help preserve the sporting careers of Afghan women cricketers but also reinforce the sport’s role as a unifying force that transcends borders and adversity,” he said.
An Afghanistan Women’s XI played a Cricket Without Borders XI at Melbourne’s Junction Oval in an exhibition match supported by the Australian government in January, bringing together 21 female players who were formerly contracted to the Afghanistan Cricket Board.
Since leaving Afghanistan many of the women cricketers have been based in the Australian capital and in Melbourne and playing for club teams in local competitions.
Firooza Amiri said ahead of that exhibition match in January that her team “represents millions of women in Afghanistan who are denied their rights.”
Amiri fled her home country with her family and first traveled to Pakistan before being evacuated to Australia.
Under Taliban rule, the Afghanistan Cricket Board cannot field a national women’s team because the country’s laws forbid women from playing sport, studying and medical education, moves that have been criticized by world groups including the International Criminal Court.
Afghanistan is a full member of the International Cricket Council and a condition of that status should require it to have a women’s national team.
England and Australia have refused to participate in direct series against Afghanistan in protest, but continue to play against the Afghan men in ICC events.
It was the Afghanistan men’s historic run to the semifinals of the Twenty20 World Cup last year that sparked the women’s team members to again approach the ICC about funding.
The group first approached the ICC in 2023, asking for support for a refugee team based in Australia to rejoin international cricket.
Afghanistan women’s team gets funding from the International Cricket Council
The Taliban leader said executions were part of Islam, days after four men were killed by gunfire in Afghanistan after they were convicted of murder.
The executions took place in sports stadiums Friday, the highest number known to have been carried out in one day since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. Rights groups and the U.N. condemned the killings.
Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has previously rejected the need for Western laws in Afghanistan.
In an audio clip released Sunday by the Taliban’s chief spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on X, Akhundzada said: “We must carry out disciplinary measures, perform prayers and acts of worship. We must enter Islam completely. Islam is not just limited to a few rituals; it is a comprehensive system of all divine commands.”
Not a single command of Islam should be left unfulfilled, he told a seminar of Hajj instructors during a 45-minute speech in southern Kandahar province.
God had commanded people to pray and to enforce his punishments, said Akhundzada, adding that the Taliban did not wage war for power or wealth but rather to “implement Islamic law”. He rejected criticism of the executions.
Afghanistan’s Supreme Court earlier ruled that the four men were guilty of murder. A death sentence was handed down after families of the alleged victims refused to grant the men amnesty.
Akhundzada’s comments come as the Taliban seek greater engagement with the international community, most recently the West.
The United States last month lifted bounties on three senior Taliban figures, including the interior minister who also heads a powerful network blamed for bloody attacks against Afghanistan’s former Western-backed government.
The Taliban have freed four Americans from custody this year, describing these releases as the “normalization” of ties between the U.S. and Afghanistan.
The Taliban leader says executions are part of Islam
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
