Pakistan Welcomes Local Ceasefire Agreement In Kunar & Nuristan Border Areas

In an interview with Pakistani journalist Hassan Khan, she said the absence of strong leadership in Afghanistan has made it difficult to manage challenges and establish stability.

She stressed that understanding the current situation requires a different perspective, as Afghanistan does not function as a centralised state.

The head of the South Asian Strategic Stability Institute explained that the country is better seen as a collection of border regions whose lifelines are closely tied to neighbouring states.

According to her, centrifugal tendencies are deeply embedded in Afghanistan’s structure, and provinces bordering Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian countries often have stronger trade links and dependencies with those neighbours than with the central government.

Sultan argued that, given these regional dependencies, Afghanistan’s state structure may not remain in its current form.

She added that there is little sign of a strong unifying nationalism capable of overcoming these structural divisions.

Residents said the incident occurred around 8:00 am on Thursday, May 7, in the market of Ishkashim district. They said the woman was killed while on her way to work, carrying her child with her.

According to sources, the attacker used a hunting rifle. The victim, identified as Leilma, was first wounded and later died in the district hospital.

Ehsanullah Kamgar, Taliban police spokesperson in Badakhshan, confirmed the killing but provided no further details.

Local sources said Leilma, an Ismaili woman and the wife of Salam Maftoon, a local singer, ran a tailoring workshop in a women’s market in Ishkashim established by the Aga Khan Foundation.

Salam Maftoon had previously been detained by the Taliban and was later released following mediation by local elders.

This is not the first killing of an Ismaili in Badakhshan. Sources said that around late December 2025 and early January 2026, at least three followers of the sect were killed by unidentified gunmen within a single month.

Since the Taliban’s return to power, Ismaili communities in Badakhshan have faced various pressures, including forced conversion.

According to United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), in the first three months of 2025 the Taliban forced more than 50 Ismailis to convert to Sunni Islam. The report said Taliban officials beat, coerced and threatened those who refused with death.

Participants in the conference, titled Afghanistan 2026: Humanitarian Emergency and Political Solution, are examining the human rights situation in Afghanistan, particularly the worsening conditions for women.

At the opening, Léa Balage El Mariky, a member of the French parliament and vice-president of the France-Afghanistan friendship group, was present. For the first time, Richard Bennett, the UN special rapporteur addressed members of the foreign affairs committee and the France-Afghanistan friendship group in person.

Rahmatullah Nabil, Afghanistan’s former head of the National Directorate of Security, and several women’s rights activists also attended the meeting.

During the first session, participants proposed establishing a parliamentary working group on Afghanistan, involving French MPs and the UN special rapporteur. They also stressed the continuation of humanitarian visas for women, human rights activists, civil society members and journalists.

The conference, organised by the Afghanistan Children’s Association and the Afghanistan Peace Dialogue Movement, will continue Thursday, May 7, at the French foreign ministry and later at Paris City Hall.

The meeting comes as Taliban decrees have severely restricted the lives of Afghan women. One of the major concerns is the enforcement of the Taliban’s courts penal code, issued under Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada in January.

Observers say the 113-article code institutionalises systematic gender discrimination and formalises punishments such as stoning and public executions.

At the same time, Afghanistan faces a severe political and economic crisis. Five years of international isolation have deepened the humanitarian disaster, with at least 23 million people now in need of urgent aid, according to United Nationsreports.

The organisation said in a statement on Wednesday, May 6, that it had received information indicating the Taliban obtain forced confessions from journalists during detention.

It condemned the practice, stressing that such confessions have no legal or ethical validity.

Following reports of Ghafori’s arrest, the Taliban released him a day later. At the same time, a video of him was circulated which appeared to have been recorded under pressure and coercion.

In the video, he says he did not approach security institutions because of his media work but had gone to the police command and court to pursue a legal matter.

Taliban officials have not yet issued any formal statement on the reasons for his detention or release.

The Afghanistan Media Support Organization had previously said no clear legal basis or court order had been provided for Ghafouri’s arrest.

In a statement posted on X on Wednesday, the Taliban morality ministry spokesperson described reports linking its agents to the abuse of women as “baseless”.

Khybar said there was no credible evidence connecting the woman seen in the video to the institution or confirming that she was an official employee. However, the spokesperson did not clarify whether she may have been working informally with the ministry.

The Taliban described the incident as a personal and family dispute, saying it resulted from internal disagreements within the family.

The ministry also claimed that a relative of the assaulted woman had confirmed the incident was a private matter, though it provided no evidence to support the assertion.

Earlier, at least five sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International that Taliban morality police had detained several women in the city for allegedly failing to wear face veils or comply with the group’s dress code.

Male inspectors from the ministry are commonly seen in Afghan cities wearing white clothing and turbans. The Taliban have not officially confirmed whether women work within the ministry.

However, United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan reported last year that female morality inspectors were operating in Pul-e-Khumri city of northern Baghlan province.

According to the UN mission, the Taliban have also informally paid women in Kandahar and Nangarhar provinces to monitor compliance with morality laws.

There have also been reports of female inspectors operating in Parwan province.