The European Parliament’s Petitions Committee will discuss recognising gender apartheid in Afghanistan at a meeting in Brussels on 5 November, according to a letter sent to former Afghan MP Baktash Siawash.
In the written letter, a copy of which Baktash Siawash, provided to Afghanistan International, the committee said the petition would be discussed at its meeting in Brussels on 5 November 2026.
In recent months, Afghan women’s rights activists and human rights defenders have staged protest camps in Brussels, Strasbourg and Geneva and collected thousands of signatures, urging European institutions to take a firmer stance against the systematic exclusion of women from public life in Afghanistan.
The European Parliament has previously condemned the situation of women in Afghanistan in several resolutions and called for gender apartheid to be recognised as a crime against humanity.
The UN Human Rights Council also expressed deep concern in mid-October over what it described as the Taliban’s severe, increasing, widespread and systematic repression of all women and girls in Afghanistan.
The council said the Taliban’s institutionalisation of a system of discrimination, segregation, domination, disregard for human dignity and exclusion of women and girls, and its consequences, were intolerable and unjustifiable and should shock the conscience of humanity.
UN experts and human rights organisations have also repeatedly said that Taliban policies amount to structural and targeted discrimination based on gender.
Human rights groups have described the Taliban’s policies as part of an institutionalised system of discrimination against women.
UN experts say such policies could be examined within the framework of “gender apartheid”.
US Democrat Sam Liccardo says he will use a parliamentary procedure to force a House vote on a bill aimed at preventing the deportation of more than 8,000 Afghans who lost temporary protected status.
According to a statement from Liccardo’s office, the move is intended to bring the bill to a vote. If approved, it could restore Temporary Protected Status and prevent the affected Afghans from being deported.
The bill was referred to the House Judiciary Committee this summer and has remained there without a hearing or further progress.
Republican House leaders have so far not allowed the bill to leave committee and come to a vote.
Liccardo plans to file a discharge petition in an effort to bypass the Republican leadership.
Under normal procedures, House leaders, including the Speaker and committee chairs, decide which bills are brought to the floor for a vote.
If the leadership opposes a bill, it can keep it in committee and prevent the full House from voting on it.
Under US House rules, a discharge petition can force a bill to the floor without leadership approval if it secures at least 218 signatures.
More than 8,000 Afghans living in the United States had been allowed to remain legally under Temporary Protected Status, but the Trump administration ended that protection in 2025, leaving them at risk of deportation.
The bill to restore temporary protection for Afghans was introduced by Liccardo together with Democrats Jason Crow and Republicans Don Bacon and María Elvira Salazar.
Liccardo said in his statement: “Regardless of political differences, we ought to be able to agree on the critical importance of keeping our promises as a country”. He added: “America promised thousands of Afghans who risked their lives as interpreters, as informants, as other support roles to our military; they risked their lives with the expectation that we would not betray them and put them in harm’s way for doing so”.
Liccardo described the support of five Republican lawmakers as a positive sign and said he hoped more Republicans, particularly military veterans who served in Afghanistan, would back the bill after the midterm elections.
Russian and Uzbek forces have begun a joint military exercise, Cooperation-2026, at the Termez training ground near Afghanistan’s border, focusing on detecting and destroying armed groups.
During the seven-day exercise, mountain troops, reconnaissance and combat drones, and military helicopters from the two countries will practise scenarios involving the detection and destruction of illegal armed groups in border areas.
Russian troops, together with military and specialised equipment, travelled more than 300 kilometres through mountainous areas of Tajikistan and Uzbekistan before deploying to the Termez training ground.
After arriving at the exercise site, Russian forces began technical preparations, equipment maintenance and preparations for the active phase of the drills.
According to the announced schedule, the joint exercise will run from 20 to 27 October at the Termez military training ground near the Afghan border.
The main aim of the drills is to improve coordination between the two countries’ forces in detecting and destroying small illegal armed groups in border regions.
The Termez military training ground is considered one of Central Asia’s most important border locations and has drawn increased attention from the two countries’ security forces in recent years because of its proximity to unstable areas in northern Afghanistan.
Russian officials have repeatedly warned of potential threats from terrorist groups operating in Afghanistan and the risk that they could infiltrate neighbouring countries.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned only days ago that terrorist groups maintain a significant number of training camps in areas of Afghanistan bordering Tajikistan and Uzbekistan.
Security analysts say such exercises are particularly significant amid continuing regional concerns over Afghanistan’s security situation and the activities of terrorist groups.
Training for armed infiltration scenarios and the use of modern equipment reflects efforts by Moscow and Tashkent to strengthen operational preparedness against cross-border threats.
The exercises will involve reconnaissance and combat drones, ground-based robotic systems and Mi-24 attack helicopters.
The equipment will allow participating forces to practise reconnaissance and target-destruction operations more precisely in conditions resembling the mountainous and border areas of Afghanistan.
Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has called for stronger joint action against terrorism and drug trafficking during a meeting with delegation heads from Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states.
The 25th meeting of heads of government of Shanghai Cooperation Organisation member states is being held on Tuesday in Tajikistan’s capital, Dushanbe. The Taliban is not attending the meeting.
Member states are represented by prime ministers, vice-presidents and senior ministers.
During his meeting with the heads of delegations, Rahmon stressed the need to maintain peace and stability in the region and resolve disputes peacefully, saying Tajikistan supported strengthening the central role of the United Nations in these efforts.
Rahmon also called for greater cooperation among member states in combating terrorism, extremism, cyber threats, drug trafficking and transnational organised crime.
Economic and trade cooperation, investment, energy and food security, artificial intelligence and environmental issues were also discussed.
Images released from the meeting show representatives from member states including Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Belarus, Kazakhstan, China, Russia, Iran and Uzbekistan alongside the Tajik president.
No Taliban representative appears in the images, and no Taliban official is listed among the official participants in the SCO meeting.
The Shanghai Cooperation Organisation was established in 2001, and Afghanistan has held observer status since 2012.
At previous meetings, SCO member states have repeatedly stressed the need for an inclusive government in Afghanistan.
Since the Taliban returned to power, SCO meetings have been held in Dushanbe, Samarkand, New Delhi, Astana and Bishkek without Taliban representatives being invited.
Taliban officials have repeatedly called for participation in the meetings, arguing that SCO decisions concerning the region are incomplete without their involvement.
Tuesday’s meeting in Dushanbe includes delegations from member states and participating countries including Belarus, China, Iran, Russia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Pakistan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan and Mongolia.
Final documents are expected to be signed at the end of the meeting.
Tajik Prime Minister Qohir Rasulzoda and SCO Secretary-General Nurlan Yermekbayev are also expected to hold a joint press conference on the meeting’s outcomes.
Sources in Kabul say Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada has restricted cabinet meetings chaired by Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund, requiring his approval before they can be held.
The sources told Afghanistan International that cabinet meetings can now take place only with Hibatullah’s permission, while deputy prime ministers are also required to send their decisions to his office for approval.
The sources said on Monday, 19 October, that the Taliban Prime Minister Mohammad Hassan Akhund can no longer hold cabinet meetings at the presidential palace without prior approval from Hibatullah.
One Taliban source familiar with the matter said the group’s leader had verbally instructed Mohammad Hassan Akhund not to convene ministers in Kabul without his permission.
Afghanistan International’s review shows that the last cabinet meeting chaired by Mohammad Hassan Akhund at the presidential palace was held on 18 May this year, around five months ago.
According to information published on the Taliban-controlled presidential palace website, the last meeting of the Council of Ministers chaired by Hibatullah Akhundzada was held on 13 June.
Since then, the Taliban has not issued any official statement announcing another meeting of the Council of Ministers.
Sources said Hibatullah’s office has instructed all ministers and Kabul-based departments to send reports of their meetings to his office and obtain the Taliban leader’s approval before making major decisions.
The restrictions on the authority of Taliban officials are not limited to cabinet ministers.
Several officials close to Taliban governors told Afghanistan International that governors also require Hibatullah’s approval for major decisions at the provincial level and cannot act independently on significant matters.
Sources in the Taliban Interior Ministry also confirmed that reports from all meetings held by Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani and his deputies are sent to Hibatullah’s office.
According to the sources, decisions made at those meetings can only be implemented after receiving approval from the Taliban leader’s office.
Meanwhile, a Taliban security official told Afghanistan International that all departments under the General Directorate of Intelligence have been instructed to send official correspondence directly to Hibatullah’s office in Kandahar rather than to intelligence chief Abdul Haq Wasiq and his deputy, Tajmir Jawad.
The changes indicate that the Taliban leader has increased his direct oversight of government decision-making in Kabul and the provinces while further limiting the authority of ministers, governors and senior security officials.
Sources say the growing concentration of power in Hibatullah’s hands has caused dissatisfaction among some senior Taliban officials, including Sirajuddin Haqqani.
Afghanistan International had previously reported in an investigative report on 9 September 2025 that the authority of Taliban ministers in Kabul had been restricted.
Sources at the time said many Taliban cabinet members lacked independent decision-making powers and played little effective role even in financial matters, staff recruitment and policymaking.
In another report on 15 May this year, Afghanistan International said Hibatullah Akhundzada had taken control of appointments to senior civilian and military positions, leaving the prime minister and other Taliban officials in Kabul with little role in key appointments.
The UN Security Council also said in its 2024 report that major political, economic and security decisions within the Taliban are made by the circle around Hibatullah in Kandahar, while the Kabul-based cabinet largely handles administrative and executive matters.
Iran’s Mobarakeh Steel Company has reached a broad agreement with the Taliban on cooperation in Afghanistan’s mining sector, according to Iran’s specialist industry and mining outlet Irasin.
The report, published on Monday, 19 October, said a preliminary mining cooperation agreement is expected to be signed during an upcoming visit by Taliban officials to Tehran.
The plan aims to transfer between one and two million tons of Afghan iron ore to Iran each year.
In a report by Irasin, Mobarakeh Steel had come close to an initial agreement to enter Afghanistan’s mining sector after around a year and a half of negotiations with the Taliban.
The effort builds on attempts by Iranian companies dating back around 15 years to invest in Afghanistan’s mines.
Hassanali Haghshenas, chief executive of Mobarakeh Steel’s Mineral Supply and Processing Holding, told Irasin that the company, acting as Iran’s official representative, had carried out extensive assessments of state-owned and private mines in Afghanistan.
He said the preliminary agreement, once signed, would pave the way for involvement in the exploration and extraction of various mineral deposits.
Up to Two Million Tons of Iron Ore a Year
Under the plan, Mobarakeh Steel intends in the first year after the agreement is signed to transfer between one and two million tons of graded iron ore with a purity of more than 61% to Iran annually.
Haghshenas said it had been proposed that initial processing take place inside Afghanistan or directly at the border.
He added that a comprehensive plan had also been presented to the Taliban that would extend as far as producing steel billets inside Afghanistan.
He stressed that the agreement was not limited to iron ore and could also include Afghanistan’s copper, gold, zinc and polymetallic deposits.
According to Haghshenas, suitable mining areas have already been identified in these sectors, but entry into them would depend on final Taliban approval.
Noting that the development of Afghanistan’s mining sector is closely linked to railway expansion, Haghshenas emphasised the importance of the Herat-Iran railway for transporting heavy mineral cargo.
He described security, mining infrastructure and processing facilities as the main prerequisites for the project and said these issues could be resolved at the government level.
He said the broader aim of establishing this framework was to open the way for an organised presence by other Iranian mining and industrial companies in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan and Iran are currently connected by the roughly 225-kilometre Khaf-Herat railway, one of the most important transit links between the two countries.
The railway was first inaugurated online by senior officials from both countries in December 2020, but operations were suspended after the political changes of August 2021 and the Taliban’s return to power.
Freight services on the route resumed in July 2023 following diplomatic consultations and repairs to the railway.
Major Iranian industries see the Khaf-Herat railway as the main economic route for transporting up to two million tons of Afghan iron ore annually.
The line also provides landlocked Afghanistan with access to international waters through Iran’s railway network.