Opposition Groups Warn Of Possible Taliban-Linked Attacks On Foreign Missions

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan published its quarterly human rights report on Thursday, 15 October, covering the period from July to September 2026.

UNAMA said the casualty figures were recorded between 1 October 2025 and 30 September 2026.

According to the report, between 1 July and 30 September this year alone, 13 people were killed and 20 others injured.

UNAMA referred to civilian deaths caused by attacks by Pakistani forces in Kunar, Paktika and Helmand.

The UN mission said women and children were among the victims. It also documented several cases of civilians being injured by pressure-plate improvised explosive devices in border areas of Kunar.

Tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan escalated into widespread border clashes from October 2025.

Taliban Officials Arbitrarily Detained 443 People in Three Months

UNAMA said Taliban morality police arbitrarily arrested or detained at least 443 people over the past three months and documented 97 cases of ill-treatment involving women and men.

The mission said it recorded more than 50 cases in which women were arrested, detained or warned over what the Taliban considers violations of its hijab rules.

Most of the detentions took place in Herat, where, according to UNAMA, the chador remains the mandatory form of dress for women.

Cases were also documented in Kabul and Badakhshan.

In one incident, UNAMA said morality police detained a 13-year-old girl for allegedly failing to comply with the hijab rules. She was held overnight and released the following day after her father intervened.

On 10 July, morality police in Herat also detained 10 women who were not wearing chadors. They were held until family guardians and local representatives pledged that the women would comply with the hijab rules in future.

Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, confirmed on 27 September that women and girls had been detained in Herat and Kabul over their clothing and described non-compliance with the hijab rules as a “very serious offence”.

In another interview, he said a woman who was aware of the hijab rules but failed to comply with them was considered an offender by the Taliban.

UNAMA also documented cases in which women were denied access to healthcare facilities or markets because they were not accompanied by a mahram, or male guardian.

According to UNAMA, on 8 August in Parwan, morality police prevented two women from entering a healthcare facility because they did not have a mahram (male guardian) with them.

On 17 August in Helmand, a woman was similarly denied access to a market because she was unaccompanied by a male guardian.

During the same period, Taliban institutions issued official messages telling women to remain at home and obey their husbands.

In a sermon prepared for Friday prayers on 7 August, the Taliban’s Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs said women should obey their husbands, stay at home and not leave without their husbands’ permission.

Shias Detained and Religious and Educational Centres Closed

UNAMA confirmed that the Taliban detained a number of employees of institutions affiliated with Afghanistan’s Shia community in September and closed several educational, religious and healthcare centres in Kabul.

Afghanistan International had published several reports during the same period about Taliban actions against Shias in Kabul and the closure of their religious and educational centres.

The cases included the detention of 28 employees of Khatam al-Nabieen University and the closure of seven centres in western Kabul.

According to the report, the detentions and closures were linked to Taliban claims of ownership over land used by these institutions.

UNAMA said that on 5 September, employees of the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice, accompanied by security forces, detained 28 male staff members of Khatam al-Nabieen University on Darul Aman Road in Kabul. The university is described as an institution affiliated with the Shia community.

Four lecturers were released the same day, while the remaining 24 were freed on 8 and 9 September.

Between 6 and 9 September, UNAMA documented the detention of at least six other people in connection with events at Khatam al-Nabieen University.

According to UNAMA, they were detained for criticising or protesting the Taliban’s actions concerning the university, with their detention lasting from several hours to seven days.

On 16 September, the Taliban’s Ministry of Higher Education revoked the operating licence of Khatam al-Nabieen University in Kabul and its branch in Ghazni.

A ministry spokesperson said the licence had been revoked because of the “continued violation of applicable regulations” and failure to implement corrective measures despite several rounds of discussions and warnings.

UNAMA also said that on 19 September, the Taliban’s Ministry of Justice detained six employees of Al-Anbiya school and cultural complex in the Qala-e-Nazer area of Kabul. They were released later the same day.

On 27 September, the Ministry of Justice also closed seven centres in different parts of western Kabul that primarily served the Shia community.

UNAMA said the centres included one health clinic, two educational centres, one sports club, two religious schools and one mosque.

The Conference on Interaction and Confidence Building Measures in Asia (CICA) has 28 member states, covering around 90 per cent of Asia’s territory and population.

Its members include China, India, Pakistan, Iran, Russia, Türkiye, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Israel, Palestine and the Central Asian countries.

This year’s summit is being hosted in Baku by Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev.

Azerbaijan’s presidential office said heads of state and government from participating countries arrived at the summit on Thursday.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog also travelled to Baku to attend the meeting. Israel, like Afghanistan, is a full member of CICA.

Taliban efforts to restore Afghanistan’s participation in CICA

The Taliban has sought in recent months to increase Afghanistan’s participation in CICA activities.

On 8 July this year, Mohammad ur-Rahman Rahmani, chargé d’affaires of the Taliban embassy in Kazakhstan, met CICA Secretary-General Kairat Sarybay at the organisation’s headquarters.

Bakhtar News Agency, which is controlled by the Taliban, reported at the time that the two discussed Afghanistan’s membership, greater participation in CICA meetings and activities, and Afghanistan’s role in regional cooperation.

CICA says Afghanistan’s seat remains reserved

CICA Secretary-General Kairat Sarybay has previously said that although an Afghan delegation has stopped attending the organisation’s meetings, Afghanistan remains a full member and its place is reserved.

In 2023, he said Afghanistan’s delegation was not participating in CICA events but that the country’s membership would continue.

The CICA secretary-general described Afghanistan as a country with significant influence on Central Asian security and said member states should ensure that terrorist threats do not originate from Afghan territory and that the country does not become a haven for terrorist groups.

Despite the absence of a Taliban delegation, CICA has maintained contacts concerning Afghanistan in recent years. In August 2025, the CICA secretariat held its first informal consultative meeting on engagement with Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s last participation in a CICA summit

Afghanistan’s last confirmed participation in a CICA summit was on 15 June 2019.

Abdullah Abdullah, chief executive of the former Afghan government, represented Afghanistan at the fifth CICA summit in Dushanbe, Tajikistan.

Following the collapse of the former government, Afghanistan had no representative at the sixth CICA summit in Astana in 2022.

In the final list of participating delegations, Afghanistan was listed first among the member states, but the section for the name and position of its representative was left blank.

Despite Afghanistan having no representative, the country’s situation has remained among the issues discussed at CICA meetings over the past five years.

What is CICA?

CICA is a multilateral framework for dialogue and cooperation among Asian countries. The initiative to establish it was proposed by then-Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the UN General Assembly in 1992.

Its first meeting of foreign ministers was held in 1999, and its first summit took place in 2002. CICA’s permanent secretariat is based in Astana, Kazakhstan.

The organisation focuses on issues including security, counterterrorism, trade, transit, energy, the environment, technology and economic cooperation. Its decisions are made by consensus among member states.

UNAMA published its quarterly report on the human rights situation in Afghanistan on Thursday, 15 October, covering the period from July to September 2026.

The mission said it documented more than 50 cases in which women were detained, held or warned over what the Taliban considers violations of its hijab rules.

Most of the detentions took place in Herat, where, according to UNAMA, the chador remains the mandatory form of dress for women.

The mission also recorded cases in Kabul and Badakhshan.

In one case, UNAMA said morality police detained a 13-year-old girl for allegedly failing to comply with the hijab rules. She was held overnight and released the following day after her father intervened.

On 10 July, morality police in Herat city also detained 10 women who were not wearing chadors. They were held until family guardians and local representatives pledged that the women would comply with the hijab rules in future.

Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, spokesman for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, confirmed on 27 September that women and girls had been detained in Herat and Kabul over their clothing and described non-compliance with the hijab rules as a very serious offence.

In another interview, he said that, in the Taliban’s view, a woman who is aware of the hijab rules but does not comply with them is considered an offender.

UNAMA also documented cases in which women were denied access to healthcare facilities or markets because they were not accompanied by a mahram, or male guardian.

According to UNAMA, on 8 August in Parwan, morality police prevented two women from entering a healthcare facility because they did not have a mahram with them.

On 17 August in Helmand, a woman was similarly denied access to a market because she was unaccompanied by a mahram.

During the same period, Taliban institutions issued official messages telling women to remain at home and obey their husbands.

In a sermon prepared for Friday prayers on 7 August, the Taliban’s Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs said women should obey their husbands, remain at home and not leave without their husbands’ permission.

The visit comes as relations between Moscow and the Taliban continue to expand. Russia formally recognised the Taliban government in July 2025 after removing the group from its list of banned organisations.

Since then, Moscow has emphasised the importance of expanding political, economic and security cooperation with the Taliban.

Naryshkin is among the senior Russian officials who supported closer relations with the Taliban even before Moscow formally recognised its government.

At a conference on Afghanistan in Baku in April 2025, he praised the Taliban’s governance and said international recognition of its government was inevitable.

At the same meeting, the Russian intelligence chief accused Western countries of seeking to prolong instability in Afghanistan by keeping Afghan assets frozen and providing intelligence support to Taliban opponents.

On 18 October 2025, on the sidelines of a meeting of intelligence and security chiefs from Commonwealth of Independent States countries in Samarkand, Uzbekistan, Naryshkin also expressed opposition to the establishment of foreign military bases in Afghanistan.

He said Afghanistan had always attracted the attention of international actors, but Russia’s position was clear: Afghanistan should remain an independent country without foreign military bases. He described this as being in the interests of regional countries and, above all, the Afghan people.

In June 2024, Naryshkin also said the Taliban was the only force capable of controlling Afghanistan’s territory.

He has previously praised the Taliban’s efforts against Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), saying the authorities in Afghanistan were making extensive efforts to combat the group.

Naryshkin’s visit to Kabul comes as Russia continues to express concern about security threats originating in Afghanistan, particularly the activities of extremist groups and the risk of instability spreading into Central Asia.

Moscow has repeatedly warned about the activities of ISKP in Afghanistan and called for greater regional cooperation to counter terrorist threats.

Shahriari is a member of the Iranian parliament’s National Security and Foreign Policy Commission.

He said Afghanistan has no access to international waters and that the land could be made available to the Afghan side to import goods through Chabahar port and transport them through Iranian territory.

He stressed that any such arrangement would preserve Iran’s territorial sovereignty and would not amount to transferring Iranian territory.

Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmaeil Baghaei recently stressed that transferring Iranian territory to another country was not possible and said claims to that effect were the result of a misunderstanding.

He said the issue under discussion concerned possible ways of helping landlocked countries gain access to ports and international waters and that no formal proposal existed to transfer Iranian land or territory to Afghanistan.

Baghaei also said discussions about transferring sovereignty or handing over part of Iranian territory to Afghanistan had no factual basis, adding that Tehran was only considering ways to facilitate Afghan trade and investment in Chabahar.

Shahriari’s remarks have once again brought the issue of Afghanistan’s presence and investment at Chabahar port to the centre of political debate in Iran.

The issue had previously sparked controversy. On 9 October, Iranian MP Mohsen Zangeneh, who travelled to Kabul as part of a parliamentary delegation, said around 10 hectares of land at Chabahar port and more than 100 hectares in the port’s free zone had been designated for Afghan investment.

His remarks drew widespread reaction in Iranian media and on social networks, with some interpreting them as suggesting that part of Iranian territory would be handed over to Afghanistan.

Zangeneh later walked back his initial comments, explaining that he had not meant a transfer of ownership or sovereignty over Iranian territory.

He said the proposal was instead intended to provide facilities for Afghan investment and to develop transit infrastructure, including a dry port, in Chabahar.

Chabahar port has in recent years become one of Afghanistan’s most important routes to international waters.

Its importance has grown particularly amid increasing border and trade tensions between the Taliban and Pakistan, while Taliban officials have repeatedly stressed expanding the use of the route for trade and the transit of goods.