Anwar: Those Who Exceed Free Speech Limits Are Criminals

July 14, 2026
Farid Ahmad Atiqi
Tolo News
14 July 2026

The Islamic Emirate official also stressed the importance of justice, saying that expression should be aimed at reform.

The Head of the Administrative Office, Sheikh Noor-ul-Haq Anwar, said during a journalist capacity-building program in Maidan Wardak province that, while emphasizing the importance of conveying facts through the media, freedom of expression is protected in Islam. However, he added that those who exceed the limits of this freedom and make accusations against the system are considered criminals.

The Islamic Emirate official also stressed the importance of justice, saying that expression should be aimed at reform.

He said: “Whoever speaks, the most important thing is truthfulness. Do not deviate from truth and justice. They make accusations, violate people’s rights, provide false interpretations, and pursue negative objectives. There is no place for such things in Islam.”

At the same time, the Deputy Minister for Publications Affairs at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi, reacting to Pakistan’s recent attacks on Afghanistan, said that the country currently has a strong and centralized system capable of responding in kind to any attack by the enemy.

Farahi added that the leadership of the Islamic Emirate has begun efforts to make the country self-sufficient in defense and military affairs.

Hayatullah Muhajir Farahi said: “Our system has the capability to respond in kind to any attack by the enemy. As you saw a few days ago, the Islamic Emirate’s air force targeted and struck enemy positions across the line in some areas of Balochistan, Peshawar, and Quetta.”

During the meeting, officials and some media representatives described delivering facts and producing effective content as the primary mission of media organizations and journalists.

The Director of Media Monitoring at the Ministry of Information and Culture, Safiullah Raeed, said: “Societies are not reformed by weapons alone; they are also transformed by the power of the pen. Clarify those harmful customs and innovations that have taken the place of religion through scholarly documentation and wise writing.”

Meanwhile, the Director of Information and Culture in Maidan Wardak, Habibullah Mujahid, said: “Since the victory, we have not had any incident in Maidan Wardak that would cause dissatisfaction. We have many active media outlets, and they have always reported the truth.”

The head of TOLOnews, Faridullah Mohammadi, also said: “Our mission and responsibility is to deliver the truth, whether it is from the government to the people or from the people to the government. We pledge to stand by this homeland in difficult times and to support this country and its sacred values.”

The capacity-building seminar was attended by around 400 journalists, writers, young people, and tribal elders. Discussions focused on the effective role of the media, and journalists were urged to produce content while respecting the country’s religious and national values.

Anwar: Those Who Exceed Free Speech Limits Are Criminals
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OIC Calls for Lifting Restrictions on Women, Girls in Afghanistan

July 14, 2026
Mitra Majeedy
Journalist
Tolo News
14 July 2026

Member states of the OIC called on Afghanistan to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life.

The two-day meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) concluded with the adoption of a resolution.

According to the resolution, adopted at the Ninth Session of the OIC Ministerial Conference on Women held in Islamabad, participants expressed concern over the continued restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan.

The 32-point resolution states that the restrictions imposed on women and girls in Afghanistan are inconsistent with Islamic values. Participants called for the removal of barriers preventing women from accessing education and professional opportunities.

The resolution reads: “Expressing deep concern over the continued restrictions on girls’ education and women’s employment in Afghanistan, which are inconsistent with Islamic values that uphold the dignity, rights and advancement of women and girls.”

Political analyst Gul Mohammad Din Mohammadi said: “If they believe certain actions here violate women’s rights or are inconsistent with Islamic law, they should engage directly with the officials of the Islamic Emirate and seek cooperation to resolve these issues.”

In another part of the resolution, the 57 member states of the OIC called on Afghanistan to ensure the full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in public life in accordance with Islamic values.

Women’s rights activist Mumtaz Yousafzai said: “Over the past five years, we have not been able to provide society with enough qualified teachers or doctors. Without a doubt, when a mother receives an education, she can raise educated children.”

Although officials of the Islamic Emirate have not yet commented on the resolution, Noor-ul-Haq Anwar, head of the Office of Administrative Affairs, recently rejected Western criticism regarding women’s rights. He argued that what Western countries describe as women’s rights does not reflect Islamic principles and instead amounts to injustice toward women.

Anwar said: “What they call women’s rights, when compared with Sharia, is like taking a single drop from the sea. In fact, what they present as women’s rights is not women’s rights at all, but rather injustice and oppression against women.”

The OIC meeting, attended by representatives of its 57 member states, concluded on Monday evening with an emphasis on supporting women and expanding opportunities for them.

OIC Calls for Lifting Restrictions on Women, Girls in Afghanistan
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U.S. Lawmakers Criticize Delays in Afghan Refugee Resettlement

July 14, 2026
Mitra Majeedy
Journalist
Tolo News
14 July 2026

The lawmakers also reaffirmed their support for the cases of Afghan refugees, saying they would use every available legal and political tool.

AfghanEvac, an organization that supports the relocation of former U.S. allies and their families, has announced that it hosted a virtual meeting between Afghan refugees at Al Sailiya Camp in Qatar and three members of the U.S. Congress.

During the meeting, the U.S. lawmakers criticized the failure to fulfill promises made to the families of former U.S. partners, saying the situation is inconsistent with the values of justice and fairness.

Rep. Scott Peters said: “Absolutely riveted by these stories. They are heartbreaking, frankly repugnant to my sense of justice and fairness, my image of America. I don’t recognize America in the denial of promises and breaking of our word to these family members.”

Shawn VanDiver, president of AfghanEvac, said: “That you were heard today by people with the power to act on it. And even though it’s not going to happen overnight, we’re going to keep bringing folks back here to talk to you. We’re going to keep raising your voices. We’re going to keep fighting for you. We’re not going anywhere. And I’m just really grateful to all of you for showing up.”

The lawmakers also reaffirmed their support for the cases of Afghan refugees, saying they would use every available legal and political tool—including introducing legislation—to help move the process forward.

Rep. Lou Correa said: “I’m happy to show up with you, form a ticket line in front of the White House, then of Congress. You let me know I’m there. We have to make sure we bring this issue back at the forefront of Congress and of lawmakers.”

Sen. Richard Blumenthal added: “I can’t tell you where you’ll end up or when, but I can tell you that we’ll keep fighting and that we’ve heard you today and thank you all for the sacrifice that you have made and thanks for giving us the time, the education we got today. We heard you. We’re not going to let the scope quiet.”

The meeting took place as, according to the organizers, some Afghans transferred to Al Sailiya Camp have been waiting for more than a year and a half for a final decision on their resettlement in the United States.

Earlier reports had also suggested that around 1,100 Afghan refugees currently housed at Al Sailiya Camp in Qatar could be transferred to the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

U.S. Lawmakers Criticize Delays in Afghan Refugee Resettlement
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Rubio Cites Afghanistan ICC Investigation as U.S.Launches Campaign Against International Criminal Court

July 14, 2026

KT

The Kabul Tribune

14 July 2026

The Kabul Tribune (KT) — U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has announced a diplomatic campaign against the International Criminal Court (ICC), citing the court’s investigation into alleged crimes committed during the war in Afghanistan as one of the reasons behind the move.

In an opinion article published Monday in The Wall Street Journal, Rubio said the United States would work with allied governments to dismantle the ICC “brick by brick, if necessary,” arguing that Washington would protect U.S. service members from the court’s jurisdiction.

According to Reuters, Rubio specifically referred to the ICC’s 2020 decision to authorize an investigation into the situation in Afghanistan, which included allegations of crimes committed by U.S. forces, alongside alleged crimes by the Taliban and the former Afghan government.

Reuters reported that although the Afghanistan investigation initially covered alleged abuses by U.S. personnel, ICC prosecutors have, since 2021, shifted their focus primarily to alleged crimes committed by the Taliban and the former Afghan government.

A U.S. State Department official told Reuters that the administration is considering measures including visa restrictions, travel bans, expanded sanctions against the ICC and affiliated organizations, and diplomatic pressure on member states to withdraw support for the court.

The ICC, established under the Rome Statute in 2002, has 125 member states, but the United States is not among them.

An ICC spokesperson declined to comment on Rubio’s announcement.

Rubio Cites Afghanistan ICC Investigation as U.S.Launches Campaign Against International Criminal Court
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Pakistan Cannot Tolerate A Peaceful Afghanistan, Says Taliban Official

July 14, 2026
14 July 2026

A Taliban Interior Ministry official says Pakistan does not want prosperity, peace or security in Afghanistan, accusing the neighbouring country of opposing a united and stable Afghanistan.

Abdul Hakim Hemmat Akhundzada, head of public relations at the Taliban’s Interior Ministry, made the remarks at a gathering in Paktia.

Without naming Pakistan directly, he said: “Beside us is an ominous enemy that is close to Paktia.”

Addressing those present, the Taliban official said: “If I ask you what enmity these people and this country have with us, we have no religious enmity, no enmity over land and people, and no linguistic enmity. They simply cannot tolerate a united, prosperous, self-reliant Afghanistan that is free of war and at peace.”

He stressed the need for public awareness and shaping public opinion against the country.

The remarks come as Pakistan also accuses the Taliban of fueling insecurity and crisis in the country in cooperation with India. Islamabad also accuses the Taliban of supporting the Pakistani Taliban and Baloch separatists.

Pakistani officials say attacks and insecurity in the country have increased severalfold since the Taliban returned to power. Relations between the two sides are currently in deep crisis, talks have produced no results, and the outlook remains bleak.

Pakistan Cannot Tolerate A Peaceful Afghanistan, Says Taliban Official
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The Taliban’s war on education: ‘Nobody talks about what is happening to the boys’

July 13, 2026
Fatima Faizi

Before he leaves for Kabul University each morning, Hashmat* checks his face for the beard he has been ordered to grow. Male students are required to grow their facial hair and wear traditional Afghan clothes and those who fall short are punished. Hashmat says he recently saw a classmate beaten for wearing trousers.

“They look at you before they listen to you. If your appearance is wrong, you are already in trouble before the class begins,” he says.

Five years after the ultra-conservative Islamists of the Taliban retook Afghanistan, students have described to the Guardian a collapsing education system, with women banned, lecturers leaving and teaching increasingly focused on religious subjects and discipline.

Students are required to attend religious lectures and pray in public every day, sometimes for two hours at a time, says Hashmat. The lectures are about Islam, conduct and obedience. They are not optional. In some cases, he says, they are held during time that would otherwise be used for regular academic courses.

“I am missing my actual classes to sit in a lecture about obeying. That is what they [the Taliban] think education is for. Everyone talks about the girls who were banned, but nobody talks about what is happening to the boys who were allowed to stay.”

Another student studying in central Afghanistan said the problem is not only weak teaching, but also the disappearance of debate and questioning from the classroom. “We are expected to listen, not to question,” says Qader*. “Since the fall of Kabul, the university has lost its purpose. It feels more like a madrassa now — a place where curiosity is banned and remaining silent ordered.”

A hand holding a book with Arabic script, next to a traditional Hazara-type hat and prayer beads
A booklet on Islamic civilisation that students say they are forced to study. Photograph: Handout

Hashmat studies journalism, a subject shaped by digital tools, online platforms, verification, ethics and technology, but as he listens in class, he says he wonders whether the person teaching the course understands the subject well enough to teach it.

“He is teaching us about the modern world while struggling to use PowerPoint in the class. How can you teach journalism technology if you do not understand what technology is?”

Hashmat’s account matches those of more than 20 students interviewed by phone at public and private universities in seven provinces across Afghanistan – Kabul, Kandahar, Helmand, Nangarhar, Bamiyan, Balkh and Wardak.

Afghanistan’s higher-education sector contracted sharply between 2019 and 2024, according to Unesco, with female enrolment down to zero by 2024 and male enrolment falling from 310,369 in 2019 to 188,957 in 2024.

Kabul University still looks like a university from the outside. The buildings are open, male students still attend, exams are held and degrees are issued. But students say much of what makes it a university has been hollowed out.

Experienced professors have left the country, stopped teaching or been pushed aside. And ideologically aligned Taliban lecturers have been hired in their place. In some departments, recent graduates and even undergraduates are teaching.

Hashmat points to one lecturer who, he says, finished his own degree only two years earlier. “Now he is standing in front of us. It is clear he does not know more than we do.”

Zalmay*, a student in Helmand province, describes a similar decline in the quality of teaching. “Some teachers come to class and only read from old notes,” he says. “When we ask questions, they cannot explain beyond what is written in front of them. We are university students, but sometimes it feels like we are back in high school.”

A former Kabul University professor, who has requested anonymity because he fears retaliation, confirms the students’ accounts and says the loss of qualified lecturers has weakened universities that are still expected to produce graduates.

Nearly all those who have spoken to the Guardian describe some version of the same crisis: weak teaching, underqualified lecturers, mandatory religious lectures, pressure over appearance and a growing belief that education no longer leads to work.

Kabul University once meant something very different. For generations, it trained Afghanistan’s doctors, engineers, journalists, civil servants and political leaders. To be admitted there was a source of pride for a family. It meant a brighter future was possible.

After the fall of Kabul, Hashmat says two of his younger brothers dropped out of school. They no longer believe education would help them find jobs or build a future. For years, school was presented as the safest path forward: study, graduate, work, support the family. Since the Taliban takeover, that promise no longer seems real.

“They do not believe education will help them anymore. I am reaching the same conclusion and find it hard to attend classes.”

Even on campus, Hashmat says, journalism students feel hostility. They are studying an occupation that has been restricted, lost professionals and treated with suspicion. Many independent news outlets have closed. He says he and his classmates have been called shaitan (Satan) by their teachers.

“We are studying journalism in a country where journalism barely exists. What are we being trained for?” he asks.

The question has worn down many of his classmates. Some still attend because their families expect them to; some come because a degree, even a weakened one, still carries social status.

But Hashmat says many fellow students no longer believe in what they are doing. “They come because their families want them to. But inside, they have already given up.

“I keep going because I do not know what else to do. But every day it gets harder to believe it means something,” he says. “The Taliban war on the battlefields has stopped, but their war on education continues in silence.”

* Names have been changed to protect their identities

The Taliban’s war on education: ‘Nobody talks about what is happening to the boys’
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Afghans Under Pressure Again In New Pakistani Deportation Drive

July 13, 2026

By Daud Khattak

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty

Thousands of Afghan families, fearing an uncertain future, have begun pouring into Afghanistan amid a fresh push from Pakistan against what officials describe a “crackdown” on undocumented aliens.

Islamabad had set the July 10 deadline for what the authorities call “undocumented” Afghans to leave the country.

The move comes amid a broader push by authorities around the world who have been pushing Afghans who fled their country to return home.

In Pakistan alone, more than 2.5 million Afghans have been deported since October 2023, the year when Islamabad announced the deportation policy.

“An average 400 to 600 families are crossing the Torkham border daily,” said Islam Badshah, a volunteer from the Jamrud region in Pakistan’s Khyber tribal district, who provides free food, medicines and other basic items to the departing families.

Torkham is the main crossing point between Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Badshah, who collects donations from locals to continue his welfare work, says a majority of the families hold UN-issued registration cards, but Pakistani authorities say only Afghans with valid-stay visas such as student, business, or visits in their passports will be allowed to stay.

Afghans Being Sent Home

Zia Rahman was among the hundreds of families who have arrived at the Hamza Baba Transit Center for Afghan refugees near the border on July 13.

With his family awaiting clearance from the authorities to cross the border, Rahman told RFE/RL that he and his elder brothers were born in Pakistan and are being forced to a country they don’t know.

“Neither my children, nor those of my brothers ever visited Afghanistan,” he said. “We are heading to an uncertain future — how to get jobs and if our children will be able to attend schools?” the 36-year-old said.

Escaping Border Violence, Afghans Struggle To Rebuild Lives

Millions of Afghans around the world are being either directly forced to return by states where they have been residing, or have felt compelled to do so because of threats, harassment, and intimidation.

But the situation is most acute in Pakistan.

Decades of conflict in Afghanistan have forced millions of Afghans to take refuge in Pakistan. Islamabad had estimated 1.5 million registered Afghans living in Pakistan before 2021. Another half a million plus fled the country to take refuge in Pakistan following the Taliban takeover of Kabul in August 2021.

Pakistan and the Taliban were undeclared allies for decades but relations between the two started deteriorating in 2021 with Islamabad accusing Kabul of hosting the Pakistani Taliban, who carry out attacks inside Pakistan.

The Afghan Taliban deny the Pakistani allegations by saying that they would not allow anyone to use the Afghan soil against any other country.

In October 2025, Pakistan carried out air strikes inside Afghanistan triggering bloody border clashes that resulted in numerous casualties and damages to infrastructure on both sides. Pakistan closed all the borders with Afghanistan besides intensifying the deportation of Afghans.

Recently, Pakistan has invalidated the Afghan Citizen Cards (ACC) and Proof of Registration (PoR) cards. Earlier, the two documents were recognized as a permission for Afghans’ legal stay in Pakistan. However, Pakistani authorities recently invalidated all other documents except a valid visa to stay in Pakistan.

Humanitarian Crisis

The mass deportations also have created a humanitarian crisis in parts of Afghanistan, overwhelming local infrastructure and leaving returnees vulnerable.

A majority of the departing Afghans say they have wrapped up their businesses and sold their properties on throw-away prices to avoid arrests during police raids, which have become more frequent since July 10.

In the Board Bazaar in Peshawar, one of the largest hubs for Afghan refugees in Pakistan, some 5,000 businesses such as bakeries, dry fruits, clothes and shoe outlets, pulse with shoppers.

Afghan Migrants In Iran Face Growing Hardship Amid War Fallout

But these days, police patrols compete with shoppers, forcing retailers to find novel ways to avoid arrest.

“We’ve hired locals to avoid arrests during police raids,” said one shop owner who wished not to be named for fear of an action by the authorities.

“Whenever there is a police raid, we skip out and hand over the business to the local. This saves us as well as our business…but this may not continue for a longer period.”

Another entrepreneur, Zakir Ayaz, whose family runs a well-established business in Peshawar, says police raids have become routine since July 10.

“My family migrated to Pakistan at the beginning of the Afghan jihad 40 years ago. We established our business over 25 years,” Ayaz, who occasionally visits Afghanistan but wants to stay in Pakistan, said.

“Now, we’ve got to wrap it up with no future in sight.”

Daud Khattak is a senior international correspondent covering the Near East in RFE/RL’s Central Newsroom. He was previously the managing editor of RFE/RL’s Radio Mashaal.

Afghans Under Pressure Again In New Pakistani Deportation Drive
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US Attacks on Chabahar Port Disrupt Cargo Traffic, Threatening Afghanistan’s Trade Routes

July 13, 2026
Khaama Press
PHoto: US launched fresh strikes on Iran’s Chahbahar port.

US strikes targeting infrastructure at Iran’s Chabahar Port have raised fresh concerns over Afghanistan’s access to regional trade, threatening one of the country’s main alternatives to Pakistani transit routes at a time when Kabul is seeking to reduce its dependence on Pakistan for overseas commerce.

US military strikes targeting infrastructure at Iran’s Chabahar Port have intensified concerns over Afghanistan’s external trade, with analysts warning that any prolonged disruption could undermine one of Kabul’s most important alternatives to Pakistani transit routes.

According to reports by The Times of India, the strikes damaged Chabahar’s vessel traffic control tower, disrupting operations at the strategic port that India has developed since 2016 to connect with Afghanistan and Central Asia while bypassing Pakistan.

The attacks come amid escalating military exchanges between Washington and Tehran, adding uncertainty to commercial shipping and regional logistics across the Gulf.

For Afghanistan, the significance extends beyond India. Chabahar has become a cornerstone of efforts to diversify trade routes and reduce reliance on Pakistan, whose border closures, political tensions and recurring transit restrictions have repeatedly disrupted Afghan imports and exports over the past several years.

Relations between Pakistan and the Taliban administration have deteriorated over disputes involving border security, cross-border militancy and the deportation of Afghan migrants. The tensions have frequently spilled over into trade, with prolonged closures at key crossings such as Torkham and Spin Boldak, stricter customs procedures and periodic restrictions on Afghanistan transit goods, prompting Kabul to seek more reliable regional alternatives.

The Taliban administration has increasingly promoted Iran as a strategic trade partner. In November 2025, Deputy Prime Minister Abdul Ghani Baradar urged Afghan traders to expand the use of Iranian ports, particularly Chabahar, as part of a broader policy to diversify Afghanistan’s trade corridors and reduce dependence on Pakistani transit.

The Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment (ACCI) has stated that most Afghanistan imports and exports pass through Bandar Abbas, while Chabahar remains an important complementary gateway, particularly for trade with India.

According to World Bank data, Afghanistan exported goods worth $79.2 million in May 2026, with India accounting for 34 percent of total exports, making it the country’s largest export destination during the month. Maintaining uninterrupted access to Indian markets is considered critical for Afghanistan exports, particularly fresh and dried fruits, carpets, medicinal plants and minerals.

Economists also note that Chabahar provides Afghanistan with access not only to India but also to Gulf markets, East Africa and Southeast Asia, reducing the country’s dependence on a single transit corridor and strengthening its long-term trade resilience.

The latest strikes underscore how regional conflicts increasingly affect Afghanistan’s economy despite the country not being directly involved in the fighting. With Pakistan remaining an unreliable transit route and Iran’s transport infrastructure now facing growing security risks, Afghan traders are confronting renewed uncertainty over access to international markets.

US Attacks on Chabahar Port Disrupt Cargo Traffic, Threatening Afghanistan’s Trade Routes
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Inside Herat, Where a Taliban Campaign Targets a Cosmopolitan Outpost

July 13, 2026

Reporting from Herat, Afghanistan

The New York Times

Afghanistan’s leader has exerted full control over a city that once enjoyed looser social norms, even under Taliban rule.

Province by province, the Taliban government’s leader, Sheikh Haibatullah Akhundzada, has tightened his grip over Afghanistan. With a recent show of force in the western city of Herat, he has asserted control over one of the last havens where people had still been able to quietly ignore some of the Taliban’s restrictions.

Since retaking power in 2021, the Taliban have enforced a rigid set of rules about religious practice, dress and daily life. Across Afghanistan, women and girls face restrictions on access to education, most jobs and travel. But in some parts of Herat, the country’s third-largest city, men kept their beards short and women wore heels and makeup — despite the Taliban’s dress codes.

Now, that’s changing.

I traveled to Herat in June and found that these pockets of resistance to the Taliban are disappearing.

Sheikh Akhundzada’s morality police have arrested dozens of people over the last few weeks. Many women said they now avoided leaving their homes out of fear of being caught in the wave of arrests. Some people had even protested, a rare act of public resistance, but the Taliban cracked down on them, too.

She and most of the two dozen other residents, religious leaders, human rights defenders and teachers interviewed in Herat asked to be identified only by their first names, or to remain anonymous because of fear of retaliation by the Taliban.

They described an intense new climate of fear and intimidation that has settled over vast parts of one of Afghanistan’s most cosmopolitan cities.

The Taliban government has already silenced most dissenting voices. But critics say that it may be squeezing Afghanistan’s diverse society to the point of upheaval.

“Why are they intensifying religious pressure every day?” Ayatollah Gholam Abbas Waezi Zadeh, a leading Shiite cleric, said in a speech in May. “When the pressure becomes too high, an explosion will inevitably occur.”

Herat, home to a large Shiite Muslim population, has never been a stronghold for the Taliban, who are Sunni Muslims. During the civil war that led to the Taliban’s first rule in the 1990s, Herat was the home base for some of the group’s fiercest rivals. And it was among the last cities to fall to the group in August 2021.

Herat may not be as liberal as other cities like Kabul, the capital, or Mazar-i-Sharif, in the country’s north. Still, on my previous trips to the city, last summer and in March, I saw schoolgirls wearing loose head scarves that let a sliver of hair show, and many women wearing jeans or colorful shawls.

One neighborhood, Jebrail, has long embodied that quiet resistance. It is home to tens of thousands of families from the predominantly Shiite Hazara community and a hub for cross-border trade with Iran, 70 miles to the west.

There were cafes in Jebrail where young men and women could meet freely, and markets where groups of female friends wandered unbothered in makeup and heels.

Directives issued by the Taliban’s morality police to local religious leaders in early June meant an end to that. The police said women who did not respect orders to cover themselves from head to toe, including their faces, would be arrested and could face prison.

On June 6 and 7, at least 30 women were arrested on charges of violating the orders, according to the United Nations’ mission in Afghanistan. Local human rights groups say they have registered more than 200 arrests so far and expect more.

“Some generations accept orders, others don’t,” Hussain, a Shiite cleric in Herat, said about the new crackdown on women’s clothing. “The new generation isn’t coping; it is not accepting.”

On June 9, dozens of residents gathered in Jebrail to protest the tightened rules and the arrests.

Among them was Hamayoon, 19, who said she had come with a friend even though their mothers had urged them not to.

“I told myself, ‘If I don’t go, and others don’t go, then who will participate?’” Hamayoon said. “Tomorrow might be my mother and sister’s turn to be arrested.”

Hamayoon and other demonstrators chanted, “Work, education, freedom.” As the chants grew louder, and armed Taliban officers walked toward the demonstrators, some threw stones at the Taliban, who fired warning shots and then aimed for their feet, according to five protesters. Footage of the tense face-off quickly circulated on social media.

The police officers chased demonstrators down Jebrail’s alleys, beating and arresting dozens of them, according to protesters and five others who witnessed the clashes. One teenager died after suffering gunshot wounds, and several others were injured.

A spokesman for the Herat police, Sayed Masoud Hussaini, said the protesters had been “agitators” seeking to disrupt public order. He denied that the police had arrested or beaten protesters, and he said the police had brought the area back under control “in the shortest possible time.”

The protest in Jebrail started at 8 a.m. By 10 a.m., the Taliban had dispersed everyone.

The Taliban swarmed Jebrail and installed checkpoints. As rumors spread of another planned demonstration, they issued warnings in mosques and schools to the neighborhood’s residents: Do not go out to protest again.

They have not.

Instead, a climate of fear has fallen on Jebrail. Residents said the Taliban are stopping people and arresting them because of their beards or clothing and, in some cases, intimidating schoolgirls.

The students were already fully covered in black chadors from head to toe, but the officer ordered them to cover their faces as well, in line with the new instructions, Zahra said. The officers then filmed as the girls held pieces of paper describing their outfits as “the flag of the Afghan woman’s honor.”

Some of the girls cried under their veils. “We were all frightened,” Zahra said, because they were unable to reach their parents for help.

On a recent evening, I saw a dozen armed officers who stopped drivers at every major intersection.

Fully covered women walked in the streets as the sunset brought respite from the 105-degree heat. A local market was almost empty.

The crackdown and fear of arrests have brought economic activity to a standstill. Shakila, the owner of a food packaging workshop in Jebrail, said three of her employees had not come to work for weeks.

A principal in Herat said that some parents had stopped their daughters from attending school.

Some who do face ridicule from adults who don’t agree with the Taliban rules. At Zahra’s school, some students who comply and attend class with a mask or a veil covering their faces said they had faced insults from passers-by calling them “Taliban donkeys,” according to a teacher there.

The Taliban’s effort to assert control goes beyond social norms around dress. Taliban officials have increasingly sought to suppress public signs of devotion by members of the Shiite community across the country in recent months, according to religious officials, education professionals and human rights groups.

They have instructed all male university students to sign a document certifying that they follow the Taliban’s Sunni school of thought. In Herat, they have ordered some principals to provide lists of their Shiite students.

And as Afghan Shiites in Herat prepared for the holy commemoration of Ashura last month, their leaders received orders from the Taliban to remove flags from shrines and to cancel outdoor processions.

Zabiullah Mujahid, the Taliban government’s spokesman, said in an interview that the authorities had imposed restrictions on the celebrations because of security threats to Shiite communities from the Islamic State. The Taliban government has, over the years, said it has mostly eliminated the Islamic State threat from Afghanistan.

Between 10 and 15 percent of Afghanistan’s 45 million people are estimated to be Shiite, but they, like other minorities, have been largely shut out of power in the Taliban government.

“They do not accept recommendations, they do not accept guidance,” Ayatollah Waezi Zadeh, the Shiite cleric, said about the Taliban government in his speech in May. “Perhaps their foundation is to make every decision themselves, to be single-minded.”

Anisa Shabir contributed research.

Elian Peltier is The Times’s bureau chief for Pakistan and Afghanistan, based in Islamabad.

Inside Herat, Where a Taliban Campaign Targets a Cosmopolitan Outpost
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WHO Warns Closure of 150 Health Centres Threatens Healthcare and Polio Eradication in Afghanistan

July 13, 2026
Khaama Press

 

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the closure of more than 150 health centres across Afghanistan since the beginning of 2026 is restricting access to essential medical care for millions of people and threatening efforts to eradicate polio as funding for humanitarian health services continues to decline.

In a statement, WHO said the health facilities have suspended operations because of severe funding shortages, leaving many communities without access to primary healthcare, maternal services, disease prevention and emergency treatment. The agency warned that the closures are placing additional strain on Afghanistan’s already fragile healthcare system, with women, children and people in remote areas among those most affected.

According to WHO, more than 22 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance, including over 14 million who need healthcare services. However, only 17 percent of the funding required for the country’s health response had been received by the end of June 2026, leaving critical programmes at risk of further disruption.

The agency said the funding gap threatens routine immunization campaigns and disease surveillance, raising concerns over efforts to eliminate wild poliovirus. Afghanistan and Pakistan remain the only two countries where wild poliovirus transmission has never been interrupted, making continued vaccination campaigns a global public health priority.

The warning followed a visit to Afghanistan by Dr. Hanan Balkhy, WHO Regional Director for the Eastern Mediterranean, who traveled to Kabul and Kandahar with representatives of international partners. During the visit, she met officials from the Taliban administration, healthcare workers, United Nations agencies and donor representatives to discuss the country’s growing health and humanitarian needs.

Dr. Balkhy said sustained international support is essential to maintaining life-saving health services and achieving the goal of eradicating polio. She stressed that ending transmission requires a functioning healthcare system, trained health workers, uninterrupted vaccination campaigns and predictable long-term funding.

Afghanistan’s healthcare system has faced repeated financial shocks since international aid declined following the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021. Humanitarian organizations say reductions in donor funding have forced hundreds of health facilities to scale back or suspend services, disrupting access to medicines, maternal and child healthcare, nutrition programmes and emergency medical treatment.

The United Nations and humanitarian agencies have repeatedly warned that Afghanistan’s health sector remains heavily dependent on international assistance. Aid organizations say continued financial support is critical to preventing further deterioration in healthcare access, particularly in rural provinces where humanitarian services often provide the only source of medical care.

WHO called on international donors to increase funding for Afghanistan’s health response, warning that without urgent financial support, more health facilities could close, leaving millions of Afghans without essential care and undermining progress against preventable diseases, including polio.

WHO Warns Closure of 150 Health Centres Threatens Healthcare and Polio Eradication in Afghanistan
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