Taliban Pulls Eradication Team Amid Infighting & Protests In Badakhshan

Matiul Haq Khalis, head of the Taliban-run National Environmental Protection Agency, said that climate change and deteriorating environmental conditions disproportionately affect Afghan women.

“International organisations should not overlook women in their data collection and reporting,” Khalis said during a meeting in Kabul, according to Taliban-run Radio Television Afghanistan (RTA) on Monday.

He also urged aid organisations not to tie their assistance to political issues.

“The people of Afghanistan are part of the global human community. The pain of this nation is the pain of all, and their problems are everyone’s problems,” Khalis said.

His remarks come despite the Taliban’s own policies, which have severely restricted women’s rights and participation in society. Since returning to power in 2021, the Taliban has barred Afghan women from working for most domestic and international organisations, including many delivering humanitarian aid.

The United Nations has previously reported that Taliban-imposed restrictions on women’s rights have significantly reduced international financial assistance to Afghanistan.

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) also reported that violence against aid workers increased in April.

On 22 May, UN sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International that Taliban-affiliated individuals had followed and threatened female UN employees with death. Male relatives of the women were also warned to prevent them from going to work or face lethal consequences.

At least three UN sources in Kabul said Taliban gunmen targeted, followed, threatened and intimidated numerous female Afghan UN staff last week.

According to OCHA, there were seven incidents in April, including the detention of around 29 aid workers by Taliban authorities, as well as two additional cases of threats and verbal harassment.

Such incidents have severely undermined the ability of humanitarian workers to safely and effectively operate in the country.

The group said the number of executions carried out this year has surged by 143 percent compared to the same period in 2024. In May of last year, 67 executions were recorded.

Hengaw reported that those executed had been convicted on charges including espionage for Israel, murder, drug-related offences, rape and armed robbery.

The group also noted that only six of the 163 executions were officially announced by the Iranian government or state-affiliated media. The remainder, it said, were conducted in secret across various prisons in the country.

Iran continues to face international criticism over its use of capital punishment, particularly in cases involving non-violent crimes and amid concerns over due process.

A lack of proper school buildings, access to clean water, sanitation facilities and a shortage of qualified teachers particularly women are among the key factors keeping children out of the classroom, the agency said.

Many children are also forced to work to support their families as economic hardship continues to deepen across the country.

The ongoing ban on education for girls has drawn widespread international condemnation. Political leaders, human rights groups including Amnesty International and UN agencies have repeatedly called on the Taliban to reopen schools for girls.

The Taliban has ignored those appeals and, for the fourth consecutive year, continues to bar girls from attending school beyond sixth grade, as well as from pursuing higher education at universities.

UNICEF has previously warned that the ban will have catastrophic consequences for Afghanistan’s future. The agency stressed that the Taliban’s decision jeopardises the lives and prospects of millions of women and girls.

The UN agency said on Sunday that nearly 435,000 Afghans returned from Iran during the first four months of 2025. Of those, 252,400 were forcibly deported.

In the same period, more than 196,000 Afghan migrants returned from Pakistan. According to UNHCR, 33,000 of these were deported, while the rest returned under growing pressure.

The agency also reported that over the past 21 months, approximately 998,500 Afghan migrants have returned from Pakistan to Afghanistan. Among these, only about 131,000 people have received UN assistance. Of those who received support, 50 percent were women and 2.4 percent were persons with disabilities.

Nearly 870,000 returnees from Pakistan have yet to receive any form of aid from the UN.

Many of these migrants were forced to abandon businesses and livelihoods in Pakistan due to increasing government pressure, returning to an Afghanistan some had not seen in decades — often empty-handed and with little support.

Among those assisted this year, 72 percent said they were planning to settle in five provinces: Laghman, Nangarhar, Kunduz, Kabul and Kandahar.

The move signals Moscow’s growing engagement with the Taliban despite ongoing international sanctions. It remains unclear, however, whether this development signals the start of formal recognition of the Taliban regime by a major regional power.

In April, Russia suspended its designation of the Taliban as a terrorist organisation.

On Sunday, Russian Ambassador to Afghanistan Dmitry Zhirnov met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi in Kabul and delivered an official letter confirming Moscow’s acceptance of the Taliban’s ambassador.

Muttaqi expressed hope that this “new phase will provide an opportunity for both countries to expand cooperation in various areas,” according to the Taliban’s statement.

China was the first country to formally receive a Taliban-appointed ambassador, with several other nations following. Last week, Pakistan announced it would elevate its diplomatic relations with the Taliban to ambassadorial level.

Like other countries and in contrast to its stance during the first Taliban regime in the mid-1990s Pakistan has not granted official recognition to the Taliban government.