The United Nations said Monday that Taliban forces have barred Afghan women from entering UN offices in Kabul and several provinces, a move the organisation called a serious obstacle to its work in the country.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) told Afghanistan International that “temporary adjustments” had been made to UN operations to maintain safety and continue delivering services to the people of Afghanistan. It said discussions with Taliban officials are under way to resolve the restrictions.
Afghanistan International reported earlier that Taliban security personnel prevented female UN staff from entering the mission’s Kabul office on Sunday.
According to a source, Taliban officials told female employees they were acting on orders from Hibatullah Akhundzada, the group’s supreme leader, who has prohibited women from working outside the home.
Following the move, UNAMA placed its female staff on leave until further notice, the source said.
Taliban security forces barred female United Nations employees from entering the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) office in Kabul on Sunday, according to a source who spoke to Afghanistan International.
The source said the women were told they could not report to work under orders from Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban’s supreme leader.
Afghanistan International sought comment from the UN mission in Kabul, but no response was immediately available.
According to the source, Taliban officials informed female UNAMA staff that they were prohibited from working outside the home. Following the incident, UNAMA placed its female employees on leave until further notice.
Taliban forces also blocked female staff from entering several other UNAMA offices, the source added. The restriction remains in place and could be extended to all UNAMA facilities across Afghanistan.
The United Nations urged the Taliban to lift restrictions on girls’ education as the world marked International Literacy Day, highlighting Afghanistan’s literary heritage and the urgent need to restore access to schooling for women and girls.
In a post on X, the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said: “Books are not only a source of knowledge, but also a pathway to lasting prosperity..”
The appeal came as UNESCO reported that at least 272 million children and adolescents worldwide remain out of school. Despite progress in recent decades, the agency said some 739 million young people and adults still lack basic literacy skills. Data shows that 4 in 10 children globally cannot read at a foundational level.
International Literacy Day has been observed annually since 1967 to underscore the importance of education in building more literate, just and peaceful societies. This year’s theme, Promoting Literacy in a Digital Era stressed the role of digital tools in expanding learning opportunities for marginalised groups.
In Afghanistan, an estimated 2.2 million girls have been barred from attending school since the Taliban returned to power in 2021. UNESCO has warned that if restrictions remain, the number could exceed 4 million by 2030.
Despite sustained international pressure, the Taliban has refused to reverse its ban. Beyond the restrictions, a shortage of school buildings, clean water, sanitation facilities and qualified female teachers has left about 4 million Afghan children without education, according to UNICEF.
Dozens of helicopters flown out of Afghanistan during the fall of the Western-backed government in 2021 are expected to be returned from Uzbekistan to Kabul in the coming days, sources told Afghanistan International.
According to the sources, 57 helicopters that once belonged to the former Afghan army will be transferred back. After the collapse of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in August 2021, Afghan military pilots flew a number of helicopters and fixed-wing aircraft to Uzbekistan and Tajikistan.
The US Department of Defense previously confirmed that 46 aircraft were flown to Uzbekistan and another 18 to Tajikistan. The fleet included Mi-17 and UH-60 helicopters, as well as PC-12, C-208, AC-208 and A-29 fixed-wing aircraft.
The Taliban has repeatedly demanded that both countries hand over the aircraft, but officials in Tashkent and Dushanbe have not publicly commented on those requests.
The US ambassador to Uzbekistan earlier said that under a new agreement, 46 of the aircraft that had landed in the country would remain under Uzbek control. The US Embassy for Afghanistan also thanked Tajikistan for refusing to transfer former Afghan military aircraft to the Taliban.
Former Afghan President Ashraf Ghani fled to Uzbekistan aboard three military helicopters with several close aides before later travelling on to the United Arab Emirates.
A former Afghan security commander said the United States had equipped the country’s air force with 229 helicopters, both combat and transport, before the Taliban takeover.
The World Health Organization has urged the Taliban to lift restrictions on female aid workers in Afghanistan, warning that women in earthquake-hit areas are struggling to access urgent medical care.
The call came after a powerful earthquake struck eastern Afghanistan, leaving thousands in need of assistance. WHO officials said female health workers must be allowed to travel without a male guardian and provide care directly to women affected by the disaster.
Mukta Sharma, deputy representative of the WHO in Afghanistan, said the shortage of female staff in the quake zone was “a very big issue.” She estimated that about 90 percent of medical personnel there were men, while the remaining 10 percent were mostly midwives and nurses, not doctors trained to treat severe injuries.
She said that it became a problem because women were afraid to interact with male staff and to travel alone to seek care.
The Taliban ordered most women to stop working outside the home in 2022. Aid agencies say exemptions exist but are inconsistent and insufficient, particularly during emergencies that require travel. Sharma said restrictions remain severe, with no official exemptions issued, and her team raised the issue with Taliban officials last week.
"we felt we had to advocate with (authorities) to say, this is the time you really need to have more female health workers present, let us bring them in, and let us search from other places where they're available," she said.
Local women have also described the impact. A resident of Kunar province said many women in her village were suffering from trauma and high blood pressure after the quake but could not easily reach healthcare.
The UN Population Fund estimates that some 16,600 pregnant women in the affected eastern provinces are in urgent need of assistance. Residents of Kunar previously reported that at least six pregnant women had died because of the shortage of female medical staff.
Three Afghan nationals were among five suicide bombers who attacked a Pakistani security forces base in the border district of Bannu last week, security sources told Afghanistan International.
The attackers were identified as Abdul Aziz, known as Qasid Mohajer; Shabir Ahmad, also called Mawlawi Bilal Mohajer, from Saidabad district in Maidan Wardak; and Najibullah, known as Haziqa, from Khost province. Aziz was reportedly from Mata Khan district in Paktika.
Pakistani authorities have not confirmed the identities of the assailants.
A video obtained by Afghanistan International showed one of the attackers saying he was prepared to “sacrifice himself in the path of God” in Pakistan and calling on Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) to facilitate his mission. He said he was based in Bahramcha, Helmand province.
Pakistani police said six security personnel and six militants were killed when gunmen stormed the base on Tuesday. Militants rammed an explosives-laden vehicle into the compound wall before entering and engaging forces in a firefight that lasted 12 hours. Sixteen security personnel and three civilians were wounded.
The tactics mirrored those used by the Afghan Taliban during their insurgency against the former Afghan government and US forces, including suicide bombings and car bombs.
On Friday, Pakistan’s Foreign Ministry dismissed recent remarks by Taliban Defence Minister Yaqoob Mujahid, who criticised the Pakistani army’s capacity to fight insurgents. The ministry said his comments were “taunts and jibes” that could not obscure the presence of TTP safe havens in Afghanistan.
Islamabad has long accused the Afghan Taliban of providing sanctuary to anti-government militants. The Taliban has repeatedly denied that TTP or other foreign groups operate from Afghan soil.
International organisations estimate that about 6,000 TTP fighters are currently in Afghanistan, where they are believed to train at established bases.