Restrictions & Funding Cuts Threaten Afghan Women’s & Children’s Health, Says WHO

The rise in attacks and fresh opposition activity has prompted the Taliban to reinforce its military positions and prepare for a major operation in Badakhshan. Sources said the developments had alarmed Taliban officials and that the operation was expected to begin soon.

According to informed sources, the Taliban has transferred additional forces to Zebak district in recent days and deployed them across several areas.

New checkpoints have also been established in parts of the province, including Yaftal, while security measures have been tightened across Badakhshan. Sources described the security situation as “fragile”.

Earlier, the newly formed Sepah-e Mihan Front launched a surprise attack in Yaftal-e Payin district, briefly taking control of the area and disarming Taliban forces. Following the incident, the Afghanistan Freedom Front attacked Taliban positions in Zebak district.

Sources said the Taliban had also increased night patrols and guard duties across much of Badakhshan amid fears of guerrilla attacks.

Amanuddin Mansoor, the Taliban’s governor of Helmand, and Fasihuddin Fitrat, the group’s army chief of staff, are currently in Badakhshan, according to the sources.

Mansoor attended the funeral of Zabihullah Amiri, the Taliban’s information and culture chief in Badakhshan, on Wednesday.

Amiri, who was also Mansoor’s nephew, was killed on Tuesday when motorcycle-riding gunmen attacked him on the Baharak-Faizabad road.

Sources said the failure to identify those responsible had angered Taliban commanders and officials in Badakhshan and deepened security concerns among the group’s leadership.

They also said Juma Fateh, a disgruntled Taliban commander, had not withdrawn his forces from their positions. His brother was described as one of the figures most strongly advocating confrontation with the Taliban.

Sources identified a shift in the balance of power on the battlefield as one of the Taliban’s main concerns. They said Afghanistan Freedom Front forces were positioned in Badakhshan’s mountainous areas with heavy weapons and equipment, making any Taliban operation more difficult.

The developments come as attacks by armed Taliban opponents, particularly the Afghanistan Freedom Front, have increased in Badakhshan in recent weeks. The front recently claimed to have seized several key Taliban positions in the mountains of Zebak district and shot down two Taliban drones.

The killing of several Taliban officials in Badakhshan and Sar-e Pul, combined with increased opposition activity, has further intensified the group’s security concerns.

According to the report, the floods affected the eastern provinces of Nuristan, Nangarhar and Laghman; the south-eastern provinces of Paktika, Paktia, Khost and Ghazni; and the central provinces of Kabul, Kapisa, Panjshir, Parwan, Logar and Maidan Wardak.

The most severe damage was reported in the eastern region, particularly in Parun, the capital of Nuristan province.

WHO figures show that at least 23 people were killed, five remained missing and 125 others were injured in the floods in Parun.

The organisation’s assessment found that the floods caused serious damage to homes, public facilities and sources of income in the area, increasing the urgent need for humanitarian assistance.

The report added that hundreds of families in Kabul and neighbouring provinces were affected, with significant damage to residential homes and community assets.

WHO said the floods caused widespread destruction in Mohammad Agha district of Logar, Ghorband district of Parwan and parts of Kabul.

Its assessment found that damage to roads and infrastructure had disrupted access to essential services, particularly healthcare.

According to the UN assessment, floods in the south-eastern region also caused deaths and destroyed homes and agricultural land.

UN figures show that at least 26 houses were destroyed and two people were killed in Paktika, while two children died in Paktia.

Extensive damage to farmland, roads and water-supply systems was also reported in Khost and Ghazni provinces.

WHO warned that the consequences of the floods extended beyond the immediate destruction and could have long-term effects on food security and family livelihoods, particularly among communities dependent on agriculture.

The report also said damage to drinking-water infrastructure had increased the risk of diseases caused by contaminated water.

WHO said it had activated its emergency coordination system in response to the crisis and, together with other aid agencies, had begun rapid needs assessments and the distribution of emergency supplies.

The organisation also expressed concern about severe shortages of healthcare resources in some areas, particularly Parun.

It said the limited capacity of health facilities, shortages of medicines, damage to treatment centres and difficulty reaching mountainous areas had created serious challenges for relief operations.

The report stressed the urgent need to strengthen health services, provide safe drinking water, establish temporary shelters for displaced families and increase disease surveillance.

The UN agency warned that continued rainfall could further worsen the humanitarian situation in the coming days.

Afghanistan International has seen images from the incident showing pieces of the downed drones in a mountainous area.

The Afghanistan Freedom Front, which has been fighting Taliban forces in Zebak for the past three days, has not yet officially commented on the reported downing of the drones.

According to reports, clashes between armed opposition fighters and Taliban forces have continued in Zebak district of Badakhshan for three days.

On Friday, the second day of the fighting, the Afghanistan Freedom Front said it had killed at least 21 Taliban fighters, including several commanders, in attacks on Taliban positions in Zebak. The front said another 37 Taliban members were wounded.

The front said it had seized Taliban bases and positions in the highlands surrounding the Zebak border battalion and forced Taliban forces to retreat.

Officials from the Taliban’s 219 Omar-e-Salis Division confirmed the opposition attack in Zebak district on Friday night.

In a statement, the division said five opposition fighters had been killed and several others wounded in clashes with troops from the Taliban’s 15th Border Brigade. The Taliban has not officially disclosed casualties among its own forces.

Informed sources told Afghanistan International on the first day of the fighting, Thursday, 23 July, that the Taliban had deployed commandos to the area by helicopter and sent additional reinforcements overland.

According to the sources, some wounded Taliban fighters were also flown by helicopter to Faizabad city.

The fighting in Zebak comes days after the newly established Sepah-e Mihan Front attacked Yaftali Sufla district in Badakhshan.

On 17 July, the front’s fighters briefly took control of the district administration building, police headquarters and Taliban intelligence office in Yaftal, and raised their flag over the district building.

Following the intense clashes between Taliban and opposition forces in Zebak, Daoud Naji, head of the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s political committee, said the fight against the Taliban had entered a new phase.

Naji confirmed that the front had launched attacks against Taliban forces in Zebak district of Badakhshan.

Writing on X on Friday, Naji said the decisive battle for liberation has entered a new phase. A battle whose end will be freedom, with the people of Afghanistan as the true winners.

In a post on X on Saturday, 25 July, Bennett wrote that Afghan refugees in Iran were among the most vulnerable groups and often continued to be overlooked. He also expressed regret over continuing executions in Iran, particularly those involving Afghan migrants.

Earlier, Bennett and a group of independent United Nations human rights experts issued a statement condemning the resumption of military hostilities between Washington and Tehran and the risk of the conflict spreading to other areas.

The UN experts warned that abandoning agreed commitments to end the war would undermine prospects for peace, harm the rights of war victims and destroy the mutual trust needed for a lasting end to the conflict.

They stressed that civilians must not bear the cost of the fighting and that all parties must comply with international human rights and humanitarian law, particularly the principles of distinction between military and civilian targets, proportionality in attacks and precautionary measures to protect civilians.

Concerns Over Damage to Civilian Infrastructure

The UN experts said military attacks and counter-attacks between the United States and Iran on the nights of 12 and 13 July had marked a new phase in the escalation of the crisis and raised fears that the conflict could spread further across the region.

They expressed concern over reports of damage to civilian infrastructure in Iran, including ports, energy networks, transport routes and public service facilities, warning that such attacks could disrupt access to food, medicine and essential services.

People Caught Between Foreign Attacks and Domestic Repression

The statement said that during war and domestic repression, vulnerable groups, including women, children, people with disabilities, minorities, refugees and those living in poverty, suffer disproportionately and are often left unheard.

The UN human rights experts also expressed concern over continuing executions, mass arrests, torture and reports of enforced disappearances in Iran, saying that people in the country were trapped between the consequences of foreign attacks and domestic repression.

They called on all parties to immediately de-escalate tensions, prioritise the protection of civilians and return to dialogue and negotiations to resolve their disputes.

Speaking at the Balochistan National Workshop in Islamabad on Friday, Sharif said: “We share a 2,000-kilometre border with Afghanistan. We are neighbours and have to live together, but we continue to urge the Afghan interim government not to allow its soil to be used for terrorism against Pakistan.”

His remarks come as Islamabad has repeatedly accused the Taliban in recent months of sheltering members of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan and other armed groups. The Taliban have rejected the allegations, saying they will not allow Afghan territory to be used against any country.

Referring to a renewed rise in militant attacks in Pakistan, Sharif said more than 90,000 Pakistani civilians, soldiers and security personnel had lost their lives in the fight against terrorism. He also accused India of supporting terrorist groups but provided no evidence for the claim.

Sharif said Pakistan had largely brought terrorism under control by 2017 and 2018, but that the country must now examine how the threat had re-emerged and expanded.

He also expressed sorrow over Thursday’s attack in Mastung, Balochistan, which killed court judge Abdul Hakeem Kakar and his security guard, saying Pakistan’s security forces and civilians had paid a heavy price to ensure the country’s security.

In another part of his remarks, the prime minister stressed the importance of Balochistan’s development, saying Pakistan could progress only if all of its provinces developed simultaneously.

He announced a 300 billion rupee project for the Karachi-Chaman highway, saying the route, known as the “bloody road” because of its high number of traffic deaths, was expected to be completed within the next two years. Sharif also announced 50 billion rupees in funding to convert about 27,000 agricultural wells in Balochistan to solar power.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s President Asif Ali Zardari, during a meeting with several Balochistan provincial ministers, called for faster implementation of development projects and stronger coordination between government and security institutions to improve the province’s security and economic situation.