Child Soldiers, Sexual Exploitation Persist Under Taliban, Says US State Department
The US State Department says the Taliban made no meaningful effort to combat human trafficking in 2026, leaving Afghanistan in the lowest tier of its annual report.
The US State Department says the Taliban made no meaningful effort to combat human trafficking in 2026, leaving Afghanistan in the lowest tier of its annual report.
The report said Afghanistan lacks a system for identifying trafficking victims and referring them to support services.
It said the recruitment and use of children in combat and support roles continued during the reporting period, along with the sexual exploitation of boys through the practice known as “Bacha Bazi”.
The US State Department said the Taliban reported no investigations, prosecutions or convictions of human traffickers and provided no information showing that victims had been identified or supported.
New Taliban decree and penalties deemed insufficient
Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada issued a decree around two years ago banning human trafficking and calling for such cases to be addressed.
According to the report, the decree prohibits human trafficking and provides prison sentences of between one and three years for first and subsequent offences.
However, the US State Department said Taliban authorities were not meeting the minimum standards required to eliminate human trafficking.
It said the decree does not provide a clear definition of human trafficking and that the penalties are not sufficiently stringent to deter the crime. The report also said some provisions appear to implicitly recognise concepts associated with slavery.
Legal experts have also raised concerns about the lack of clear definitions, the conflation of human trafficking with migrant smuggling, the absence of explicit protections for defence lawyers and reliance on confessions without sufficient safeguards against coercion.
Child recruitment and bacha bazi continue
The report said the Taliban and other armed groups continue to unlawfully recruit and use children in combat and support roles.
According to the US State Department, the Taliban uses coercion and deception to recruit children, some of whom are drawn from religious schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
The report said groups including ISIS-K and the National Resistance Front also use children in direct fighting, transporting and planting explosives, carrying weapons, spying and guarding bases.
The US State Department also said that despite bacha bazi being formally prohibited, the practice continues and observers have reported the involvement of Taliban members.
Under the practice, boys, typically aged between 10 and 18, are subjected to sexual exploitation and used for entertainment.
According to the report, the Taliban has made no effective effort to protect victims of bacha bazi or end the practice.
Lack of adequate support for trafficking victims
The report said the Taliban had not reported identifying any trafficking victims or providing services to them, and that there were no regular and effective mechanisms for identifying victims and referring them to support centres.
According to the report, security forces sometimes detain potential victims, including children begging on the streets, without screening them for signs of trafficking.
Some child victims are also held in detention facilities alongside adults, exposing them to forced labour, physical violence and sexual abuse.
The US State Department said Taliban restrictions on non-governmental organisations, the ban on women working in most sectors and the detention of female employees for travelling without a mahram have made it more difficult to provide support services to victims.
A lack of funding and specialised facilities for adult victims were also identified as major problems.
The report also warned that Taliban corporal punishments for what it considers moral offences, including sex outside marriage, could discourage victims of sex trafficking from reporting abuse because they may themselves be punished for acts, they were forced to commit as a result of trafficking and exploitation.
However, the report noted that 58 children were released from Taliban ranks with the assistance of an international organisation.
Following discussions with the Taliban, the organisation helped secure the children’s release and supported their return to civilian life.
Growing vulnerability of women, children and migrants
The US State Department said women, men and children inside and outside Afghanistan are subjected to forced labour, debt bondage and sexual exploitation.
According to the report, trafficking within Afghanistan is more widespread than cross-border trafficking.
Children are exploited in sectors including carpet weaving, brickmaking, domestic work, agriculture, mining, construction, begging, lorry driving and the trafficking of drugs and weapons.
The report added that some poor or indebted families sell their children to traffickers or force underage girls into marriage in exchange for money.
According to the US State Department, Taliban restrictions on the movement of women and girls and their access to education and employment have increased their vulnerability to exploitation.
Women, girls and families returning to Afghanistan from Iran and Pakistan, internally displaced people and those associated with the former government are also at greater risk.
The report said some Afghans pay intermediaries to help them find work in countries including Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye and European states, but some of these intermediaries and employers force them into labour or sexual exploitation.
Afghan men and boys, particularly in agriculture and construction in Iran, Pakistan, Greece, Türkiye and Gulf countries, also face forced labour and debt bondage.
The report said some Afghan refugees in Iran, Iraq, Pakistan, Türkiye, Europe and Central Asia do not report exploitation to authorities because they fear deportation to Afghanistan.
Lack of effective prevention measures
The US State Department said Taliban authorities had failed to take effective measures to prevent human trafficking.
According to the report, relevant authorities had neither maintained an inter-agency working group against trafficking nor effectively implemented a national action plan.
The report said that although the Taliban issued a decree during the previous reporting period declaring human trafficking illegal under Islamic law and ordering relevant authorities to coordinate, investigate cases and conduct public awareness activities, it provided no evidence that these measures had been implemented.
It also said there had been no effective action to prevent the unlawful recruitment of children or reduce demand for commercial sexual exploitation.
The US State Department said Taliban restrictions on the rights of women and minorities, as well as limits on the work of non-governmental organisations, had created conditions that increased the vulnerability of at-risk groups and obstructed support for trafficking victims.
