UK Diplomat Warns Of ‘Terrible’ Impact Of Taliban Ban On Women’s Medical Education

According to an official statement, the 20th cabinet meeting took place on 5 May under the leadership of Mohammad Hassan Akhund, the Taliban’s acting Prime Minister. The primary focus of the session was the draft plan for a nationwide population census.

The Taliban’s National Statistics and Information Authority (NSIA) was instructed to evaluate the proposal and present a final report at the next cabinet meeting. A committee, chaired by Abdul Qadeer, head of the NSIA, has been tasked with reviewing the census plan in detail and preparing recommendations.

Since assuming power in August 2021, the Taliban has reiterated its intention to conduct a comprehensive national census. Accurate data on Afghanistan’s population particularly by ethnic and social groups remains unavailable. Estimates from the previous government placed the population at approximately 33 million.

However, in August of last year, the Taliban’s Statistics Authority revised this figure, estimating the country’s population at 35.7 million.

According to eyewitnesses, the latest deployment occurred on Tuesday morning, following a protest on Monday sparked by the arrest of several residents. A call to protest was reportedly issued via loudspeaker from a local mosque, urging people to "raise their voices and make themselves heard."

In response, over 100 Taliban fighters were dispatched to Argo from Faizabad and Taloqan, where they clashed with local farmers and residents. Multiple sources allege that Taliban forces beat civilians, burned tents and motorcycles, and took a woman from the village of Shamqarchi to an unknown location.

Local residents reported that Taliban fighters opened fire on civilians during the confrontation. Fearing a public gathering, the Taliban attempted to suppress the protest, with witnesses stating that people were beaten and fled to nearby mountains to escape the violence.

A video shared with Afghanistan International captures the moment a voice over a mosque loudspeaker urged residents to protest, declaring: “Now is the time to raise our voices, and we must make ourselves heard.”

Sources confirmed that the Taliban briefly withdrew from the area following the protest but later returned in greater force to quell dissent. The group allegedly carried out further beatings and raids in surrounding areas.

Residents of Argo have expressed growing discontent over the Taliban’s poppy eradication campaign, which they say has been conducted without providing alternative livelihoods. Protesters also cited the exclusion of locals from decision-making processes and harsh treatment by "non-local" Taliban fighters as causes of unrest.

According to the statement, the group’s primary court in the Urgun district sentenced the man to 16 months in prison and 16 lashes. The sentence was reportedly carried out on Sunday, 4 May.

The Taliban’s Supreme Court regularly reports the use of corporal punishment, with such actions taking place on an almost daily basis.

International human rights organisations, including the United Nations, have repeatedly urged the Taliban to end the practice of corporal punishment, citing serious concerns over due process and the lack of access to fair legal representation.

Critics argue that the Taliban’s judicial system fails to meet international legal standards and often denies the accused basic rights, including access to a defence lawyer.

According to Abdul Mutalib Haqqani, spokesperson for the Ministry, more than 3000 of the returnees were prisoners released from various jails in Pakistan. These individuals re-entered Afghanistan through the Torkham and Spin Boldak border crossings.

Haqqani stated on the group’s state television that the Ministry has arranged essential support and transportation to assist returnees in reaching their original places of residence.

To accommodate the influx, the Ministry announced the allocation of over 60 residential settlements across the country for the returnees.

Afghan migrants residing in neighbouring countries including Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye, and Tajikistan are reportedly facing increasing pressure.

In Pakistan, authorities have intensified crackdowns on undocumented migrants and are resolute in their efforts to expel them. Conditions for asylum seekers who had previously fled Taliban rule have also deteriorated, with harsher living circumstances imposed by host countries.

The Directorate of Information and Culture in Panjshir announced that the provincial governor, Mohammad Agha Hakim, has instructed all media and cultural institutions to fully enforce the Taliban’s “Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice” regulations.

According to an official statement, Hakim made the directive during a session focused on interpreting the group’s virtue law and the decrees of its supreme leader. During the event, the formation of virtue enforcement committees in each district of Panjshir was also announced.

The Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC) has previously reported that similar bans on the broadcast of images of living beings have already been enforced in more than 15 provinces, including Kandahar, Takhar, Badghis, Helmand, Nangarhar, Nuristan, Farah, Nimruz, Badakhshan, Baghlan, Jowzjan, Zabul, Parwan, Kunduz, Bamiyan, and Daikundi.

Media watchdog groups have raised alarms over the impact of such restrictions, warning that these measures severely curtail journalistic freedom and the public’s right to access visual information.

The Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice confirmed last year that its so-called virtue law had been formally ratified. Article 17 of the law specifically prohibits both the photographing and broadcast of images of living creatures. It grants enforcement officials the authority to monitor and prevent the dissemination of such images in the media.

The legislation has drawn widespread criticism both domestically and internationally for its impact on freedom of expression and access to information.

Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on the Afghan media, significantly limiting press freedom and instituting broad censorship policies throughout the country.