The US and Pakistan discussed the military equipment left behind in Afghanistan, focusing on managing its disposal and security.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Pakistan’s Foreign Minister, Mohammad Ishaq Dar, held a phone call to discuss regional developments, with a focus on Afghanistan’s current situation. According to Pakistan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the two leaders addressed various topics, but Afghanistan’s security and stability were at the forefront of their discussions.
During the call, Secretary Rubio stressed the importance of resolving the issue of U.S. military equipment left behind in Afghanistan. This has been a major point of contention since the U.S. withdrawal in 2021, with both the U.S. and regional countries like Pakistan looking for solutions.
However, a Taliban spokesperson Mujahid stated that the military equipment belongs to Afghanistan and will not be returned.
The two officials also reaffirmed their commitment to continuing bilateral cooperation in promoting peace and stability in the region. They recognized the challenges faced by Afghanistan and the need for collaborative efforts to address the situation effectively.
Since the U.S. military’s exit from Afghanistan, the fate of the remaining military equipment has remained a sensitive issue. The U.S. seeks diplomatic channels to manage this matter and prevent any potential security risks.
Pakistan, as Afghanistan’s neighboring country, plays a critical role in regional security and political dynamics. Its involvement in discussions regarding Afghanistan’s future is crucial, given its proximity and historical ties to the country.
The phone call highlights the ongoing diplomatic engagement between the U.S. and Pakistan, as both countries recognize the importance of maintaining stability in the region. The fate of the military equipment and other unresolved issues continue to pose challenges in U.S.-Pakistan relations.
Meanwhile, both nations will likely continue their efforts to address Afghanistan’s situation through diplomatic means, while also focusing on long-term solutions for regional peace and security. The cooperation between the U.S. and Pakistan is vital, especially as Afghanistan remains a critical point of interest for both countries’ national interests.
US and Pakistan discuss Afghanistan’s left behind Military Equipment
In response, the World Food Programme, which is supported by US funds, stated that cutting this aid is a death sentence for those facing hunger.
US President Donald Trump has announced his intention to cut the remaining US aid to Afghanistan and Yemen.
Donald Trump stated: “You wouldn’t believe it if I say we give Afghanistan a lot of money because that was a Biden deal, another Biden deal. Not only did he embarrass us with that, but they give them billions of dollars to Afghanistan, right? So, we take good care of our friends and we don’t take care of our enemies.”
In response, the World Food Programme, which is supported by US funds, stated that cutting this aid is a death sentence for those facing hunger.
Stéphane Dujarric, spokesperson for the UN Secretary-General, said that tomorrow (Wednesday, April 9), a coordination group meeting for Afghanistan will be held in Istanbul, Turkey, with participation from donor countries, global financial institutions, and UNAMA representatives.
He said: “With 22.9 million men, women and children in need of assistance this year, the country is today the world’s second largest humanitarian crisis. The appeal for Afghanistan comes ahead of meetings of Afghanistan Coordination Group that will start tomorrow in Istanbul in Turkey. The group gathers member states, donor representatives, international finance institutions and the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.”
Meanwhile, the Ministry of Economy stated that halting aid from countries, especially the US, will have severe negative effects on vulnerable populations in Afghanistan.
Abdul Rahman Habib, the ministry’s spokesperson, said: “Budget cuts due to the suspension of US financial aid, reduced food rations, and the halt of certain humanitarian operations by this organization will directly impact the lives of those in need.”
Mohammad Nabi, an elderly man responsible for a nine-member family, has been forced to work with a cart to support his household.
He said: “I have a family of nine. No one else at home can work. No one has helped me. Sometimes I find work, sometimes not. Sometimes we have food, sometimes we don’t.”
The WFP office in Afghanistan said a day earlier that the country is facing an unprecedented child malnutrition crisis, and many mothers are also malnourished.
UN Sec-Gen Spokesperson, WFP Warn Against Trump-Announced Aid Cut
Sana Atif, Freshta Ghani, Ruchi Kumar and Zuhal Ahad
It was the middle of the night when Zarin Gul realised that her daughter Nasrin had to get to the hospital as soon as possible. Her daughter’s husband was away working in Iran and the two women were alone with Nasrin’s seven children when Nasrin, heavily pregnant with her eighth child, began experiencing severe pains.
Gul helped Nasrin into a rickshaw and they set off into the night. Holding her daughter’s hand as the rickshaw jolted over the dirt road, Gul says she prayed they would not encounter a Taliban checkpoint.
“I kept thinking, if only Nasrin’s husband were here. If only I could ease my daughter’s pain,” she says. Her prayers were not answered. The rickshaw’s small lamp was spotted by Taliban fighters who signalled for them to stop and demanded to know where they were going.
As a frightened Gul explained that her daughter was sick and needed urgent medical attention, they asked why the women were travelling without a male escort, or mahram. Even though Gul explained that Nasrin’s husband was working abroad, the fighters refused to allow them to pass and continue their journey to the hospital.
“I begged them, telling them my daughter was dying. I pleaded for their permission,” says Gul. “But they still refused. In desperation, I lied and said the rickshaw driver was my nephew and our guardian. Only then did they let us pass.”
By the time they reached the hospital it was too late. Nasrin’s baby had already died in her womb, and her uterus had ruptured. The doctors said Nasrin needed to be transferred to another hospital and so Gul helped her daughter into another rickshaw and they set off again, towards a government hospital an hour away. On their way they were stopped at two more Taliban checkpoints, each time detained for long periods because they were travelling alone.
They did finally reach the hospital, but Nasrin had not survived the journey. “The doctors told us that due to excessive bleeding and the ruptured uterus, both the baby and the mother had died,” says Gul. “We buried them side by side.”
The Guardian and Zan Times, an Afghan news agency, has interviewed dozens of women and healthcare professionals across multiple Afghan provinces. Their testimonies build a picture of a maternal and child healthcare system dangerously compromised and eroded by the Taliban’s draconian policies towards women.
An overcrowded maternity ward at the Zabul provincial hospital in the city of Qalat, in southern Afghanistan. Photograph: Kiana Hayeri/Kiana Hayeri for Carmignac Foundation
Their refusal to let women travel to hospitals unaccompanied, combined with increasing rates of early marriage, poor access to healthcare, unsafe roads and a cultural neglect of women’s health will inevitably contribute to increased maternal deaths in Afghanistan, according to UN agencies.
Even before the Taliban took power, Afghanistan had a maternal mortality rate three times higher than the global average, according to the last official World Bank figures from 2020.
Experts warn that maternal health is likely to deteriorate further, compounded by the Taliban’s decision in December 2024 to close all medical training to women, including prospective midwives.
According to a report by the World Health Organization (WHO), 24 mothers and 167 infants already die every day in Afghanistan from preventable causes. It is estimated that more than 20,000 villages across the country lack basic healthcare services, affecting 14 million people.
A recent UN Women report estimated that by 2026, a woman’s chance of dying in childbirth will have increased by 50%.
This 22-year-old midwife has helped deliver nine babies during her 13-hour shift at the Zabul provincial hospital in the city of Qalat, in southern Afghanistan. Photograph: Kiana Hayeri/Kiana Hayeri for Carmignac Foundation
Hospital staff in provinces across Afghanistan have reported that women have been persistently prevented from accessing maternal healthcare because they were not accompanied by a man.
A medical professional at Mirwais regional hospital in Kandahar says the hospital receives female patients from across Kandahar but also from neighbouring provinces.
“Most arrive in critical condition and some die simply because they were brought in too late,” they say. “Some babies die in the womb, while others pass away within minutes of birth.” According to staff, the hospital recorded at least 800 maternal deaths and more than 1,000 newborn deaths last year.
“A young woman arrived at the hospital after giving birth in a taxi,” says Samina, a midwife working in a government hospital in Kandahar. “Her baby had died on the way due to a lack of oxygen. When I asked her why she hadn’t come to the hospital sooner, she replied, ‘I had to wait for my husband to return from work. I had no other male guardian.’”
Two women told the Guardian they had experienced miscarriage due to inability to access care. One interviewee reported the death of a family member during labour.
“My sister died yesterday during childbirth,” says 35-year-old Pashtana* from Kandahar province. “Her husband was not at home when she went into labour, and she could not go to the doctor alone.”
Pashtana said if her sister had travelled to the clinic alone, “she would not be treated because she did not have a mahram”.
Several women told the Guardian that they were denied treatment and prescriptions in the absence of a male guardian or because they lacked the permission of one.
“I don’t get to see the doctors or get medicines unless I am accompanied by my son or grandson,” says Qandi Gul*, a 50-year-old woman who had travelled to a clinic for an eye exam.
A female doctor from the eastern province of Nangarhar says: “Since the Taliban takeover, women don’t visit the doctor unless the sickness develops to the point of being unbearable.
A midwife holds a baby girl at Zabul provincial hospital. She is one of eight midwives at the hospital, which also has two female doctors and one senior female doctor. They were trained before the recent Taliban ban on women attending nursing and midwifery courses. Photograph: Kiana Hayeri/Kiana Hayeri for Carmignac Foundation
“One reason is because of financial hardships, but sometimes the reason is because the men of the families are careless and do not bring the woman to the doctor sooner. And since they can’t travel on their own, their condition worsens,” she says.
Already, a growing shortage of qualified medical professionals and midwives is putting the lives of women and children at serious risk, particularly in rural areas where few trained doctors are available.
Doctors interviewed by the Guardian estimated that “more than half” of their female colleagues had quit their jobs, particularly in smaller cities and villages.
“Most of my colleagues have left Afghanistan and this has severely affected the healthcare sector in the country,” said Dr Sima*, who chose to stay along with her husband, also a doctor. “We are both specialists, and we realised we would not be able to do this work abroad so we stayed to serve the country.”
A midwife from Takhar province says officials from the Taliban’s ministry for the propagation of virtue and prevention of vice constantly harass and humiliate female medical staff. “We try our best to do our jobs, but the pressure is unbearable. Many of us just want to quit. Sometimes, they insult us, claiming our clothing is ‘un-Islamic’.
“One day, our emergency ward was overwhelmed with patients. That section is for women only, and men are not allowed. But Taliban enforcers barged in and took away three female nurses, claiming their uniforms were inappropriate. They made them sign a pledge to wear longer clothing before letting them go. Even in life and death emergencies, instead of letting us treat patients they are instead arresting us over our clothing.”
Names have been changed to protect the identity of the interviewees and some of the writers. A version of this story was originally published by Zan Times
‘I begged them, my daughter was dying’: how Taliban male escort rules are killing mothers and babies
The World Food Programme (WFP) has once again warned about the dire situation facing children in Afghanistan, stating that millions of Afghan children are at serious risk of malnutrition this year.
According to WFP officials in Afghanistan, recent assessments reveal that at least 3.5 million children across the country will face malnutrition in the current year, a problem that continues to worsen daily.
The organization emphasized that every ten seconds, one Afghan child succumbs to malnutrition, highlighting the severity of the humanitarian crisis in a country that has struggled with decades of war, poverty, and deprivation.
The WFP has pointed out that the reduction in international aid has been a major obstacle in addressing the needs of the population. Millions of Afghan citizens, especially children, are at risk due to insufficient food resources.
Following the fall of the previous Afghan government and the rise of the Taliban, international aid to Afghanistan has drastically decreased. Alongside economic issues, drought, rising unemployment, and limited access to healthcare services, the nutrition situation, particularly among children, has reached a critical level.
The WFP has repeatedly warned that without adequate funding, it will not be able to assist all those in need in Afghanistan. The organization has previously stated that if the budget shortfall persists, it will have to scale back its operations, potentially exacerbating the humanitarian disaster in the country.
The international community’s support is crucial in addressing the severe food crisis in Afghanistan. If funding remains insufficient, millions of children and families will continue to face unimaginable hardships, deepening the existing humanitarian crisis.
Malnutrition threatens the lives of millions of Children in Afghanistan: WFP
The UN urges international donors to maintain critical support for Afghanistan, addressing urgent humanitarian needs amid a severe crisis.
The United Nations is urging international donors to maintain critical support for Afghanistan, a country facing the second-largest humanitarian crisis in the world. In 2025, approximately 22.9 million Afghans are in urgent need of assistance. The UN’s call for continued aid is highlighted ahead of the Afghanistan Coordination Group (ACG) meetings in Istanbul, where representatives from Member States, International Financial Institutions, and UNAMA will discuss the country’s situation.
The UN stated in a statement on 7 April 2025, as the ACG meetings commenced, that Indrika Ratwatte, the UN’s Resident and Humanitarian Coordinator for Afghanistan, emphasized the importance of ongoing donor support. She highlighted that long-term resilience and stability for Afghanistan depend on the international community’s ability to address both immediate humanitarian needs and the underlying causes of vulnerability. The UN’s goal is to help the Afghan people break free from the cycle of poverty and suffering while focusing on sustainable solutions.
According to the statement, in 2024, the international community raised US$3.21 billion for Afghanistan’s humanitarian and basic needs programs. This generous funding enabled the UN and its partners to deliver essential life-saving assistance, sustain critical services, and enhance the resilience of vulnerable groups, especially women and girls. These contributions also helped achieve some positive results, including improved food security and moderate economic growth.
However, the global funding crisis threatens to undermine these hard-won gains. A decline in international support could undo progress made over the past four years, potentially triggering negative coping mechanisms among Afghans, such as irregular migration. This could lead to even greater instability in the region and further strain neighboring countries.
The UN stresses the need for sustained commitment from the international donor community to avoid setbacks in Afghanistan’s development. It is crucial to strike a balance between emergency assistance and long-term solutions. The continued engagement of global partners is essential to ensure Afghanistan’s stability and recovery.
The ongoing humanitarian crisis calls for a united response, with both immediate aid and sustainable investments in the country’s future. The UN’s plea serves as a reminder that Afghanistan’s recovery is a shared responsibility that requires continued global attention and action. Without this support, the risks of further destabilization could increase.
Meanwhile, maintaining funding and support for Afghanistan is not only vital for the country’s recovery but also for the broader stability of the region. The international community must remain committed to helping Afghanistan overcome its challenges, providing hope and opportunities for its people to rebuild their lives.
UN urges continued donor support amid Afghanistan’s humanitarian crisis
Previously, other officials of the Islamic Emirate had also denied the existence of any internal rifts within the interim government.\Noor Jalal Jalali, acting minister of public health, has denied the existence of any disagreements among members of the Islamic Emirate.
Speaking at a gathering in Kabul, Jalali emphasized that there are no issues or divisions among officials, and each one is committed to fulfilling their duties.
The acting minister of public health stated: “There is no disagreement. Each official is so dedicated and attentive to their responsibilities that I have never seen anything like it in Afghanistan’s history.”
Saleem Paigham, a political analyst, said: “The Islamic Emirate was established largely due to the disunity of former state leaders. If there is no unity among themselves now, the legitimacy of their existence comes into question. Therefore, the more united they are internally, the more beneficial it is for the Afghan people.”
Najib Rahman Shamal, an international relations expert, stated: “The government must take practical steps in fulfilling the demands of the Afghan people. It would be better to facilitate intra-Afghan dialogue among other political and religious groups within the country.”
Previously, other officials of the Islamic Emirate had also denied the existence of any internal rifts within the interim government.
Acting Health Minister Denies Claims of Rifts Within Islamic Emirate
According to the ministry, this decision disproportionately harms the Afghan people, handicraft producers, small businesses, and women entrepreneurs.
The Ministry of Industry and Commerce has warned that the imposition of a 10% tariff by the United States on Afghan goods poses a serious obstacle to the country’s economic growth.
According to the ministry, this decision disproportionately harms the Afghan people, handicraft producers, small businesses, and women entrepreneurs.
Akhundzada Abdul Salam Jawad, spokesperson for the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, has urged the US government to adopt a supportive and constructive approach in trade relations and exports with Afghanistan.
Jawad stated: “Considering that Afghanistan is a developing and economically vulnerable country, such trade pressures could hinder its economic progress. Afghanistan needs to import tools, equipment, and modern technologies from the United States for growth in various sectors.”
Meanwhile, several economic experts have called on the Trump administration to reconsider this decision, citing global trade challenges that already affect Afghanistan.
Ismail Zadran, an economic analyst, said: “This decision directly impacts us because Afghan traders, ordinary citizens, and farmers were exporting products like dried fruits and carpets to the U.S. and selling them at good prices. With the new tariffs, there will undoubtedly be additional financial pressure on them.”
Abdul Ghafar Nezami, another economic expert, said: “It would have been much better if a fairer approach had been taken toward Afghanistan. The country should not have been placed among those subject to high tariffs. Unfortunately, this is the policy that has been adopted against Afghanistan.”
Previously, the Afghanistan Chamber of Commerce and Investment also responded to the US decision by noting that, as a member of the Generalized System of Preferences (GSP) for least developed countries, Afghan products were previously exported to the US and European Union duty-free.
Afghan Ministry Warns US Tariffs Could Hinder Economic Growth
Political observers believe such meetings can pave the way for expanding Afghanistan’s relations with regional countries in various sectors.
The acting foreign minister of the Islamic Emirate, Amir Khan Muttaqi, in meetings with Saif Alketbi, the United Arab Emirates’ special representative for Afghanistan, and Alireza Bikdeli, the acting ambassador of Iran in Kabul, stressed the enhancement of bilateral relations, the development of trade, and transit cooperation.
Amir Khan Muttaqi described the relationship between Kabul and Abu Dhabi as positive and expressed hope that the implementation of agreements made during his recent visit to the UAE would expand trade and transit ties between the two countries.
Muttaqi during a meeting with Mohammad Reza Bahrami, assistant foreign minister of Iran, and Alireza Bikdeli, acting ambassador of Iran in Kabul, discussed bilateral relations, water issues, and the situation of Afghan migrants in Iran.
“For strengthening good neighborly relations, visits and political engagements between Iranian officials and the Islamic Emirate are important. I thank the Iranian authorities for regularly coming to Afghanistan and holding meetings with the Islamic Emirate,” said Zaheerullah Zahoor, a political analyst.
“All conflicts can be resolved through dialogue. The Iranian foreign minister came to Afghanistan; but what was the result? Increased pressure on migrants, executions, and continued inequality. I hope Iranian officials have realized that a stable Afghanistan in their neighborhood is in their best interest,” said Zalmay Afghanyar, another political analyst.
Political observers believe such meetings can pave the way for expanding Afghanistan’s relations with regional countries in various sectors.
“We hope that with the visit of the UAE’s special representative to the country and his meeting with Amir Khan Muttaqi, positive steps will be taken toward progress and implementation of agreements, regardless of the strategic objectives of some countries,” said Ahmad Khan Andar, another political analyst.
Since the beginning of the current solar year, the acting foreign minister has held meetings with representatives of various countries including Pakistan, Qatar, Japan, and the United Nations to enhance cooperation.
Muttaqi Stresses Strengthening Relations with UAE, Iran
An Afghan woman who risked her life to defend human rights in her home country before fleeing to the UK has been told by the Home Office it is safe for her to return after officials rejected her asylum claim.
Mina (not her real name) worked for western government-backed projects and was involved in training and mentoring women across Afghanistan, which left her in grave danger even before the Taliban took over in 2021.
“I assumed my asylum claim would be granted – I am from Afghanistan, I’m a woman, I worked with western governments,” said Mina. “The refusal was an absolute shock. Now every day I fear being sent back to my home country. Having a normal life here looks like a dream for me. I’m really suffering mentally.
“When I was working with western government projects I received security training about how to respond if I was caught up in a bombing or a kidnapping. Every day I was a few minutes or a few seconds away from bomb blasts.
“My heart beat so fast when I had to pass the checkpoints. Every morning when I said goodbye to my family to go to work I thought it might be the last time I saw them,” she said. “Some of my colleagues just disappeared. The Taliban changed the Ministry of Women’s Affairs to the Ministry of Vice and Virtue – proper, systematic elimination of women.”
The Home Office has previously generally accepted protection claims from women like Mina who could be targeted by the Taliban because of their high-profile work empowering women and who have provided evidence of their work with western government projects.
But in the most recent data for the last three months of 2024 immigration statistics show 26 Afghan women had their claims rejected. Overall 2,000 Afghan asylum seekers had their claims refused, an increase from 48 in the same quarter of 2023. The grant rate for Afghan cases has gone down from 98.5% in the last quarter of 2023 to 36% in the last quarter of 2024.
The 2025 Human Rights Watch report into Afghanistan documents a serious deterioration in the rights of girls and women and an increase in risks to their safety.
Although Mina explained in her Home Office asylum interview of the dangers she faced in Afghanistan because of the work she did a Home Office decision maker who rejected her claim, concluded that: “It is considered that you do not face a real risk of persecution or harm on your return to Afghanistan on the basis of your claimed adverse attention by the Taliban.”
The refusal letter adds: “You likely have a great support network due to your occupation.”
However many of those Mina worked with prior to the Taliban takeover are either in hiding or have fled the country and these support networks have largely been destroyed.
“There are no compassionate factors in your case that warrant a grant of leave to remain outside the immigration rules,” the letter states.
“When I arrived here I felt safe,” Mina said. “I thought I would have a chance to live. In Afghanistan I had not been considered a human. I learnt to ride a bicycle here, something I was not allowed to do in my country. I was really full of hope that my life would change. But someone pressed pause on my life. I hope someone will press play again.”
Her solicitor Jamie Bell of Duncan Lewis said: “It is shocking that 26 Afghan women were refused asylum in the last quarter. However this is a particularly upsetting case where the Home Office states that a woman who risked her life defending women’s rights in Afghanistan would not be at risk on return. The UK should be proud to offer protection to an individual like her. This refusal letter is offensive to all those who defended western values in Afghanistan and who ought to be offered protection when they cannot safely return.”
A Home Office spokesperson said: “It is our longstanding policy not to comment on individual cases.”
Afghan rights defender told she faces ‘no risk’ from Taliban as Home Office denies asylum
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Rifts are growing among Taliban officials over the group’s decision to ban girls from secondary education, leading at least one minister to leave Afghanistan and forcing families to move so their daughters can continue their schooling.
As religious police patrollarge parts of the country to ensure that rules are enforced, the restrictions have become so repressive that some senior members of the militant group have called for them to be rolled back in recent months, three Taliban officials told NBC News, which agreed not to identify them so they could speak candidly.
All three said there was a growing divide between ultra-conservative Taliban members in the southern city of Kandahar, where the group’s supreme leader, Haibatullah Akhundzada, lives, and more moderate members from the capital, Kabul. The three officials have been affiliated with more hard–line wings of the Taliban, but they said their thinking on girls’ education differed, adding that it had been a mistake to bar them from going to school.
Some Taliban officials“openly expressed their views in support of girls’ education, believing that it will have some impact on the leadership,” an official told NBC News this year. “Unfortunately, rather than welcoming their suggestions, some people took it negatively as if they were against the top leadership.”
Taliban spokesperson Zabihullah Mujahid denied that there were any tensions within the government, although he said there was occasionally a “difference of opinion among the people.”But in a rare rebuke of the Taliban from within its own ranks, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, Afghanistan’s acting deputy foreign minister, did speak out against the ban, which was introduced in September 2021, a month after the group took power following the chaotic withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from the country.
The Taliban were “committing an injustice” by barring girls from school, Stanikzai said at a graduation ceremony in the eastern province of Khost on Jan. 18, adding that it was not in line with Sharia law but rather “our personal choice or nature.”
“There is no excuse for this, not now and not in the future,” he said.
It would prove to be one of his final acts in Afghanistan. Within days, Stanikzai — a man the Taliban once trusted to lead a team of negotiators in Qatar in talks about the U.S. withdrawal from Afghanistan — left the country for the United Arab Emirates.
He has refused to return, despite a visit from Afghanistan’s deputy prime minister, Abdul Ghani Baradar, who failed to persuade him, the three Taliban officials confirmed.
Stanikzai’s departure was a further mark of protest against the regime’s “illogical and irresponsible policies,” one of them said.
‘Taliban’s principles are difficult to change’
With a new school year starting last week, almost 2.2 million girls have been deprived of their education in the country, according to UNICEF.
But there are few signs the Taliban will reverse their policy, leading some families to risk their lives to flee Afghanistan so women and girls can pursue their schooling elsewhere, said Sahar Fetrat, an Afghan researcher with Human Rights Watch.
Many “didn’t face persecution, per se; they left because they wanted to educate their girls,” she said, adding that their journeys are often “very risky and done in a very illegal way.”Gulalai, 15, said in an interview last month that her family decided to leave Kabul for Peshawar because her father, a grocery store owner, “wanted us to continue our education.”
“We were living a happy life. Then, suddenly, the Taliban suspended our education, and our dreams were shattered,” Gulalai said, speaking on the grounds of her new school.
NBC News has agreed not to use her last name because of fears for her safety.
After travel agents demanded $2,500 for each visa — far more than her family of seven’s entire savings — their only option was to bribe officials and cross the border illegally, Gulalai said.
A relative eventually helped them settle in a two-room house on the outskirts of this city in northeastern Pakistan, she said, adding that her father had gotten a job at a store and that her mother was cleaning families’ homes to help make ends meet.
Gulalai, who said she dreams one day of being a nurse, said she was struggling to settle in her new school because she does not speak or write Urdu, Pakistan’s national language.
She added that she had lost a happy life of close friends, relatives and classmates in Kabul. “There was no more life in Afghanistan; otherwise, who can leave their birthplace?” she said.
Even those who manage to escape safely eventually find that going to school remains out of reach in countries like Turkey or Iran, where there are strict restrictions on granting asylum, according to Fetrat, of Human Rights Watch.
“My father took a risk by migrating us to Pakistan,” Gulalai said, adding that she did not know whether her family would be allowed to stay or be forced to leave.
In Afghanistan, the Taliban, which appeared to take a more moderate stance after they took power, has cracked down further on women’s rights.
“Vice and virtue” laws passed in August now prohibit women from speaking in public, showing their faces outside their homes and moving in public spaces without male chaperones. “Whenever an adult woman leaves her home out of necessity, she is obliged to conceal her voice, face, and body,” the laws state.Despite internal pressure from some of their own members, it’s unlikely that the Taliban would shift their stance on girls’ education, said Gaisu Yari, an Afghan research fellow at the Wilson Center, a Washington-based think tank.
Since he came to power, Akhundzada has moved to consolidate his ranks by appointing several hard-line loyalists who have supported the ban to key Cabinet positions.
And while Stanikzai has supported girls’ education, “he now feels increasingly isolated due to his position,” Yari said, adding that his more moderate allies in Kabul could not go against their supreme leader’s directives.“The Taliban’s principles are difficult to change, particularly when it comes to women,” she said.
The decrees, she added, “have not only been established as policies but have been solidified into law, making them hard to reverse.”
Astha Rajvanshi is a reporter for NBC News Digital, based in London. Previously, she worked as a staff writer covering international news for TIME.
Rifts growing in the Taliban over the ban on girls’ schooling
The United Nations says aid workers are still in a “race against time” to remove rubble and rebuild after the devastating earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan last month, killing at least 2,200 people and cutting off remote areas.
The 6.0-magnitude quake on Aug. 31 was shallow, destroying or causing extensive damage to low-rise buildings in the mountainous region. It hit late at night, and homes — mostly made of mud, wood, or rocks — collapsed instantly, becoming death traps.
Satellite data shows that about 40,500 truckloads of debris still needs to be cleared from affected areas in several provinces, the United Nations Development Program said Wednesday. Entire communities have been upended and families are sleeping in the open, it added.
The quake’s epicenter was in remote and rugged Kunar province, challenging rescue and relief efforts by the Taliban government and humanitarian groups. Authorities deployed helicopters or airdropped army commandos to evacuate survivors. Aid workers walked for hours on foot to reach isolated communities.
“This is a race against time,” said Devanand Ramiah, from the UNDP’s Crisis Bureau. “Debris removal and reconstruction operations must start safely and swiftly.”
People’s main demands were the reconstruction of houses and water supplies, according to a spokesman for a Taliban government committee tasked with helping survivors, Zia ur Rahman Speenghar.
People were getting assistance in cash, food, tents, beds, and other necessities, Speenghar said Thursday. Three new roads were under construction in the Dewagal Valley, and roads would be built to areas where there previously were none.
“Various countries and organizations have offered assistance in the construction of houses but that takes time. After the second round of assistance, work will begin on the third round, which is considering what kind of houses can be built here,” the spokesman said.
Afghanistan is facing a “perfect storm” of crises, including natural disasters like the recent earthquake, said Roza Otunbayeva, who leads the U.N. mission to the country.
Afghanistan Peace Campaign
