Taliban Justice Minister Abdul Hakim Sharaei has rejected allegations of “systematic discrimination” and attempts to forcibly displace Hazaras, saying land recovery is a legal matter unrelated to ethnicity or religion.
He said implementing court rulings in such cases was a religious duty of the commission tasked with preventing land usurpation.
Sharaei said decisions on disputed land between the commission and individuals fall within the jurisdiction of the special court dealing with cases of allegedly usurped state land.
Speaking at a meeting with charity officials in Kabul on Tuesday, 11 August, he said that once a court ruling is issued on such land, the commission is legally and religiously obliged to enforce it.
Sharaei stressed that identifying and recovering land described by the Taliban as having been seized by usurpers or unlawful occupants was a legal process taking place across Afghanistan.
He said linking the process to ethnicity, religion or language was “illogical”.
His remarks came after the Taliban Justice Ministry had earlier declared Omid-e Sabz township in Kabul state property and ordered residents to leave their homes by 6 August.
The decision prompted widespread criticism.
Representatives of Omid-e Sabz travelled to Kandahar after the Taliban moved to seize the township’s land and evict residents, and met Mullah Shirin, the Taliban governor of Kandahar.
Sources said Mullah Shirin had promised to review their request.
The dispute over Omid-e Sabz, where a large proportion of residents are Hazara, has increased tensions between the Hazara community and the Taliban administration.
Reliable sources in Kabul told Afghanistan International on Monday, 10 August, that the Taliban justice minister had insulted and humiliated Madar Ali Karimi, deputy minister of urban development, and Abdul Latif Nazari, deputy economy minister, in his office.
According to the sources, Sharaei called Karimi and Nazari on Sunday night and summoned them to his office at the Justice Ministry on Monday morning.
Karimi and Nazari denied Afghanistan International’s report about tensions during their meeting with the justice minister.
Taliban Borders & Tribal Affairs Minister Noorullah Noori has travelled to Yaftal district of Badakhshan at the order of Prime Minister Hassan Akhund to investigate a deadly clash between Taliban forces and local residents.
In a statement issued on Monday, 10 August, the ministry said Rahmatullah Najib, deputy minister for administrative affairs at the Taliban Interior Ministry, and Mawlawi Mohammad Ali Jan, deputy minister for logistics at the Defence Ministry, accompanied Noori on the visit.
Amanuddin Mansour, the Taliban governor of Helmand who originates from Badakhshan, was also present when the delegation visited Etifaq Bazaar in Yaftal district.
The Taliban Borders and Tribal Affairs Ministry said the purpose of the visit was to investigate the clash between residents and Taliban forces in Yaftal.
Without providing exact figures, the ministry said several military personnel and civilians had been killed or wounded in the incident.
The statement quoted Noori as stressing unity and solidarity during his meeting with Yaftal residents and saying that “ethnic discrimination, regionalism and discrimination” had no place in the Taliban administration.
He also said the Taliban regarded the people of Badakhshan as “a mujahid nation”.
The Taliban delegation promised to investigate the incident and prosecute those responsible.
On Saturday, 1 August, residents of Yaftal district clashed with Taliban forces.
Local sources said the confrontation began after non-local Taliban forces physically searched a woman.
According to the sources, at least four people were killed and seven others, including a woman, were wounded in the clash. One Taliban fighter was also killed and another wounded.
Sources told Afghanistan International that the Taliban delegation, led by the borders minister, met local residents at the main mosque in Etifaq Bazaar on Friday, 7 August.
According to local sources, the delegation promised that those responsible for the shooting would be prosecuted.
However, residents sharply criticised the conduct of Taliban forces and called on Taliban officials to remove non-local fighters from the area as soon as possible.
Sources said the meeting between the Taliban delegation and residents ended without a clear outcome.
Residents also said Noori provided 50,000 afghanis in assistance to each family of those killed and wounded.
Jahan Khan Noori, the Taliban police chief in Yaftal district, has also complained about the treatment of residents by non-local forces and raised the issue seriously with Taliban officials.
He has called for the removal of those forces from the area.
Afghanistan International has also obtained an audio recording of Ehsanullah Kamgar, spokesman for the Taliban police command in Badakhshan, criticising the failure to arrest those responsible for shooting civilians in Yaftal.
“This system exists for the people, and we have a responsibility towards them. As the public relations official, I am required to answer questions,” he said in the recording.
He added: “Everyone is asking why no one has been arrested after several people were killed. Give me an answer so I can answer the people. Which unit is shooting at civilians? They did not come down from the sky to shoot people. They do not have a letter of exemption from the Amir al-Muminin.”
About a week after the incident, there have been no reports of anyone being arrested over the shooting of civilians.
After the centre of Yaftal district fell to forces of the Sepah-e Mihan Front on 17 July, the Taliban deployed non-local forces to the district.
Local residents say restrictions have increased since then, homes have repeatedly been searched, and a number of civilians have been detained.
Yaftal residents say the non-local Taliban forces are unfamiliar with the local language, culture and customs and mistreat residents.
Five years after the Taliban’s return to power, armed opposition groups have yet to shift the balance. The Taliban still controls Afghanistan’s territory, state institutions and main economic resources.
The opposition controls no territory and lacks effective foreign backing that could sustain and expand an insurgency in the way Pakistan’s support helped the Taliban during the years of war.
Afghanistan International spoke to Yasin Zia, leader of the Afghanistan Freedom Front, as well as several Afghan researchers and former officials about the future of Taliban rule.
Researchers broadly agree that the Taliban faces serious problems, but these do not yet mean its collapse is imminent.
Yasin Zia told Afghanistan International that the Taliban’s future should not be judged solely by developments on the battlefield. In his view, the group’s main weakness is political.
He said, “the most important reason for our optimism is the Taliban’s political failure, and fortunately we have achieved that objective”.
According to Zia, despite controlling extensive power and resources, the Taliban has failed to gain national legitimacy, public consent or international acceptance. But that is also where the opposition faces its central problem.
The Taliban’s political failure has not yet developed into a crisis of power within its own government.
Abbas Farasoo and Nematullah Bizhan, two Afghan researchers based in Australia, are more cautious in assessing the consequences of this weakness.
In their view, a lack of legitimacy is not in itself evidence that a regime is close to collapse.
The Taliban still possesses the main instruments of coercive power, while opposition groups have not expanded their armed resistance to a level capable of challenging the group’s territorial control.
Both researchers warn, however, that if Afghanistan’s economic, political and social crises persist, the Taliban cannot assume its stability is guaranteed.
For now, guerrilla attacks by resistance groups are largely symbolic and political. Their message is that the Taliban is not invincible.
But these attacks would become a serious threat only if resistance groups could begin limiting the Taliban’s territorial control, move beyond mountainous areas and establish bases among villages and local communities.
They would also need a reliable rear base capable of providing money, weapons, medical treatment for fighters and safe havens for their leaders.
Illegitimate but Dominant
Yasin Zia says the Taliban has closed almost every avenue for political change since returning to power.
There are no elections, the constitution has been set aside, and women have been excluded from large parts of public life.
He said when a government closes every path to reform, it effectively expands the social base of opposition against itself.
Discontent has become more visible in some parts of Afghanistan in recent years.
Protests in Badakhshan have reflected tensions between local communities and the Taliban over resources and the way these areas are governed.
In southern Afghanistan, the Taliban has also at times been forced to show flexibility in response to economic pressure from farmers.
The Taliban has informally allowed poppy cultivation in some areas of the south. Such concessions are not entirely unexpected. The south is the Taliban’s traditional stronghold, and growing discontent among poor farmers could prove costly for the group.
Abbas Farasoo considers the absence of a strong and organised opposition one of the most important factors behind the Taliban’s continued rule.
He says Taliban opponents remain fragmented, lack a unified command and political programme, and have no effective foreign support.
He mentioned that, given the current conditions, the most likely scenario over the next two to five years is the consolidation of the Taliban.
That prediction does not mean the Taliban has solved its problems.
In his view, the group has survived largely because its opponents have so far failed to exploit its weaknesses.
What Has Zebak Changed?
Recent fighting in Zebak district of Badakhshan has particular significance for the Afghanistan Freedom Front.
Yasin Zia says the clashes went beyond the small-scale guerrilla attacks that have characterised most of the group’s operations and developed into more direct confrontations with the Taliban.
He said this development alone does not mean the balance of power has changed, but it shows that popular resistance against the Taliban has moved from limited guerrilla operations towards more complex forms of battlefield warfare.
At the same time, Zia acknowledges that most Afghanistan Freedom Front operations over the past five years have been small and limited.
“We should not replace reality with propaganda. A responsible movement must distinguish between its present capacity and its ultimate objective,” he said.
He added: “We know that endlessly repeating small attacks alone will not overthrow any government.”
Zia said the Afghanistan Freedom Front’s operations in recent years had pursued three objectives: maintaining a presence on the ground, undermining the perception that the Taliban is invincible, and building organised networks inside Afghanistan.
He says the next phase will require greater resources.
Expanding political organisation, strengthening links with communities, improving command cohesion, establishing a presence in more areas and presenting a credible political alternative are among the needs he identifies.
Ali Ahmad Jalali, Afghanistan’s former interior minister, also views developments in Badakhshan as a sign of growing public reaction to Taliban policies.
He told Afghanistan International that every authoritarian system eventually faces a public response but said the opposition’s current scattered attacks still do not represent a serious threat to the Taliban.
Jalali said limited operations in remote areas were not enough to change the balance of power.
In his view, opposition success requires political cohesion, a unified strategy and national leadership.
He warned that if protests and armed clashes remain fragmented, the Taliban can use its military and security resources to contain them.
When Does Poverty Become Dangerous?
The economy is another vulnerable point for Taliban rule.
According to United Nations figures, more than 20 million people in Afghanistan require humanitarian assistance.
The Taliban lacks sufficient resources to address hunger, unemployment and the livelihood crisis and, like previous Afghan governments, remains dependent on continued foreign assistance.
Some Taliban opponents, including Amrullah Saleh, former Afghan vice president, have hoped in recent years that reducing or cutting foreign aid would increase pressure on the group.
But the experience of the past five years has shown that widespread poverty does not necessarily lead to political revolt.
Yasin Zia considers dissatisfaction caused by poverty, alongside political repression and sweeping restrictions on women, part of the social conditions that can fuel resistance.
Nematullah Bizhan, however, distinguishes between widespread discontent and an immediate threat to the government.
He said that poverty or international isolation alone is unlikely to cause the government’s immediate collapse.
In Bizhan’s view, the problem becomes more serious for the Taliban when economic pressure begins to penetrate the structure of power itself.
Declining revenues, competition over resources, dissatisfaction among commanders and a reduced ability to reward loyal networks could weaken the Taliban’s internal stability.
Bizhan said that if people feel there is no hope of improving their lives, education, employment or their children’s future, discontent could take a more dangerous form.
Abbas Farasoo also says the Taliban has performed more effectively in some areas, including tax collection and domestic revenue generation.
But he does not regard this as evidence that the Taliban has transformed itself into a conventional government.
He says the Taliban’s economic structure is primarily based on customs revenues, taxation and mining, with the main objective of maintaining its political and security apparatus rather than creating a welfare state.
Farasoo describes the Taliban economy as a “predatory economy” and says Taliban factions are engaged in intense competition to seize these resources.
Divisions, but No Split
Differences between the Kandahar leadership, Kabul-based officials, the Haqqani network and some local Taliban commanders have repeatedly been reported.
But these disputes have not so far developed into a split that threatens the cohesion of Taliban rule.
Abbas Farasoo says the authority of the Taliban leadership, suppression of internal dissent, a shared fear of collapse, common enemies and an ideological belief in monopolising power have so far prevented the divisions from widening.
Bizhan also considers internal disagreements serious but says the risks would increase if several crises occurred at the same time.
A succession crisis, worsening internal disputes, commanders breaking away and a sudden decline in revenues are among the factors he believes could challenge Taliban cohesion.
Bizhan said if the current conditions in Afghanistan and the region continue, the most likely scenario is the continuation of the status quo accompanied by gradual erosion.
That erosion could continue for years without immediately leading to collapse.
Resistance Without a Foreign Backer
One of the most serious problems facing Taliban opponents is the absence of effective foreign support.
During its war against the former government, the Taliban benefited from extensive support from Pakistan.
The mujahideen also received backing from Pakistan, the United States and several other countries during the war against the Soviet Union and the governments of Babrak Karmal and Mohammad Najibullah.
Today’s resistance groups have no comparable support.
Even some regional countries that have disagreements with the Taliban have shown little willingness to support another war in Afghanistan.
Iran has also pressured some Taliban opponents to refrain from armed confrontation with the group.
Yasin Zia says the resistance cannot tie its future to the decisions of foreign governments.
He said that a government built by foreign powers can collapse just as quickly when those same supporters change their policies. The experience of the former republic order in Afghanistan and the Doha agreement offer very serious lessons for all of us.
Zia says the main foundation of the struggle must be built inside Afghanistan and should rely on former security personnel, young people, women, civil society, political elites and domestic networks.
Declining attention from major powers has also benefited the Taliban.
Farasoo says the war in Ukraine, crises in the Middle East and competition between the United States and China mean Afghanistan no longer holds the place it did in the foreign policies of major powers over the previous two decades.
The threat posed by Islamic State Khorasan Province has also strengthened the Taliban’s position.
Concern over IS-K’s expansion has pushed Iran, Russia and some Central Asian countries towards greater security cooperation with the Taliban.
There is little disagreement among opposition figures and analysts about the Taliban’s weaknesses.
Its legitimacy crisis, social discontent, economic pressure and internal divisions are real.
But the past five years have shown that the existence of these weaknesses alone is not enough to bring about a change of government.
Tamim Asey, Afghanistan’s former deputy defence minister, said these crises, combined with the characteristics of Taliban rule, could reduce the capacity of a regime like the Taliban to withstand political, economic and social shocks and open the way for internal uprisings and foreign intervention.
Darul Ifta at Darul Uloom Karachi has said women may pursue education, including medicine, under Islamic conditions, in response to a request from an Afghan refugee woman about female education in Afghanistan.
The fatwa was issued in response to a request by Bibi Durani, an Afghan refugee woman living in Haripur, Pakistan.
On 17 May, she asked Darul Uloom Karachi to provide its Islamic legal opinion on the continuation of education for Afghan women, particularly in medicine and nursing.
Durani provided Afghanistan International with the text of her request and Darul Uloom Karachi’s response on Sunday.
The fatwa has also been widely circulated on Pakistani social media. Among those who reposted it on X was the spokesman for Pakistan’s president.
The Taliban has banned women and girls from attending universities and medical institutes.
The decision has raised widespread concerns about the future of healthcare for women in Afghanistan, which has one of the world’s highest maternal mortality rates and where women already face limited access to health services.
In her request, Durani wrote that many Afghan women and girls in Pakistan study at medical colleges, nursing centres and other educational institutions while observing hijab.
Referring to the deportation of Afghan migrants from Pakistan, she said families were concerned about the future of their daughters’ education after returning to Afghanistan.
The request said: “Our demand is that women’s education should also continue in Afghanistan within the framework of Islamic hijab and a separate education system.”
The Afghan woman asked scholars at Darul Uloom Karachi to issue a written fatwa on women’s education, particularly in medicine, nursing and teaching.
In response, Darul Ifta at Darul Uloom Karachi said women’s education in fields such as medicine was permissible provided Islamic conditions were observed.
The fatwa said educational institutions for women should be separate from those for men and there should be no mixing of male and female students.
It also said women should observe Islamic hijab while travelling to and from educational institutions.
Darul Uloom Karachi said women should preferably be taught by female teachers.
If female teachers are unavailable, righteous and trustworthy men may teach women from behind a screen while observing Islamic requirements, according to the fatwa.
The ruling also stressed the observance of hijab and other Islamic rules during education and later in the workplace.
The Taliban says conditions are not suitable for women and girls to receive education in Afghanistan.
A Taliban spokesman has also said the group has concerns about the reaction of parts of Afghan society to women’s education.
Afghanistan is now the only country in the world where girls and women are barred from secondary and higher education.
Anti-Taliban fronts say they carried out at least 15 attacks on Taliban positions across nine Afghan provinces over the past week, claiming that around 30 Taliban members were killed.
Experts say growing public support for opposition forces and a decline in the Taliban’s social base are among the factors contributing to the expansion of these attacks.
The attacks were reported in Badakhshan, Kunduz, Baghlan, Kabul, Faryab, Ghor, Herat, Kandahar and Helmand.
The Taliban has not responded to the attacks and continues to claim that full security has been established across Afghanistan.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front, the United Front of Afghanistan and the National Resistance Front have separately claimed responsibility for attacks in different parts of the country.
The groups have also claimed that several Taliban members were killed during the operations.
The Afghanistan Freedom Front has claimed responsibility for several attacks in different provinces over the past 10 days.
It says at least 12 Taliban members were killed in those attacks.
The United Front of Afghanistan has claimed responsibility for eight attacks on Taliban positions in several provinces over the past week.
The group says at least 14 Taliban members were killed in those operations.
The National Resistance Front of Afghanistan has also claimed responsibility for two attacks in Herat and Badakhshan during the same period, saying three Taliban members were killed.
The Taliban has not commented on these claims.
The attacks come as some experts believe military pressure on the Taliban has increased more than at any previous point.
Bismillah Taban, a security affairs analyst, told Afghanistan International that opposition forces had gained greater access to resources and social support and had been able to attract broader public backing.
He said Afghans had grown increasingly frustrated with the current situation and that the Taliban had lost a significant part of its social support base.
Earlier, the US military publication Military reported that resistance groups in Afghanistan had stepped up attacks across different parts of the country as the fifth anniversary of the Taliban’s return to power approached.
The Guardian and Zan Times have documented 231 cases of alleged femicide across 10 Afghan provinces since August 2021, reporting a rise in killings of women and fatal violence under Taliban rule.
The investigation stresses that the figure does not represent the total number of women killed across Afghanistan, but only cases that journalists were able to document and examine in the 10 provinces.
Of the cases recorded, 53 deaths were officially classified as suicides. However, in several of those cases, relatives or witnesses said the women had been subjected to domestic violence.
The highest numbers were recorded in Jawzjan, with 36 cases, followed by Herat with 32, Badakhshan with 28 and Ghazni with 26. The victims ranged in age from 5 to 65.
According to the investigation, published on Friday, 7 August, 165 of the victims were housewives without an independent income, which the report said limited their ability to escape domestic violence or pursue legal action.
Most of the recorded killings took place in the victims’ homes.
Of the 231 cases, reports of a suspect being arrested were found in only 58. In some cases, suspects were released shortly after being detained.
The Guardian and Zan Times also investigated the death of 33-year-old Liza Shams.
She was taken to hospital on 1 February 2026 after being severely beaten and died about an hour later.
Liza’s father said her jaw had been broken and that extensive signs of beating were visible on her face and body. Medical records also showed multiple fractures to her facial bones.
However, a forensic report listed the probable cause of death as ingestion of rat poison, and no post-mortem examination was carried out at the family’s request.
Liza’s father believes she was murdered and accuses her husband of killing her.
The Guardian also examined the case of 33-year-old Freshta Emady, an employee of a United Nations organisation in Kabul.
Freshta was found dead in her home on 31 May. Her husband told Taliban police that she had died by suicide because of mental health problems, but her family and friends rejected that account and accused him of killing her.
Five people who knew Freshta told reporters that after marrying at the age of 17, she had endured about 15 years of violence and controlling behaviour from her husband.
One colleague said Freshta had repeatedly complained that her husband strangled her and threatened “I’ll cut your throat.”.
The Guardian said no comprehensive official statistics on killings of women are published in Afghanistan.
The Attorney General’s Office, which previously collected information on such cases, was abolished in 2023.
The report also highlighted legal and institutional changes following the Taliban’s return to power, saying they had weakened legal protections for women.
It said the Ministry of Women’s Affairs, the specialised prosecutor’s office dealing with violence against women and the network of women’s shelters were dismantled, while around 250 female judges were removed from their posts.
According to the report, women under Afghanistan’s current judicial system are unable to directly pursue many of their own legal cases.
As a result, even mothers cannot independently take legal action in cases involving their daughters.
Zan Times journalists collected 174 cases from local media reports and directly documented another 57 cases as part of the investigation.
According to the report, journalists were unable to speak to many victims’ families because fear prevented them from cooperating. In several provinces, reporters were also threatened after attempting to contact families.
The investigation said that in some cases, relatives or witnesses reported that women had died as a result of domestic violence, while official records classified their deaths as suicides.
The Guardian stressed that the 231 documented cases do not represent the actual number of women killed in Afghanistan.
It said the true figure could be higher because of the absence of official statistics, limited access to information and families’ fears about possible repercussions.