In 2018, Samira Asghari became the first representative from Afghanistan to join the International Olympic Committee. She has ...

She stepped outside her home as she had hundreds of times before. She did not make it to her class. She was standing by the roadside waiting for a taxi when a Taliban vehicle – a US-made Ford Ranger – ...

The Taliban introduced its new Penal Code of the Taliban Courts as a replacement for Afghanistan’s national penal code. Unfortunately, it lacks even the most basic formal and substantive standards of ...

Seven months after the Taliban takeover, I was living with my husband’s family in a three-room apartment located in a remote township in Kabul. The window of my room opened onto the courtyard. That ...

Hazaras and Shias, who make up a significant share of Afghanistan’s population, have faced systematic discrimination, forced displacement, and the seizure of their land and property under Taliban rule ...

Cheryl Benard’s recent commentary on the end of Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for Afghan refugees has outraged many Afghans. She argues that Afghanistan is not perfect, not “the Riviera,” but ...

With the start of the 2026–27 academic year, the Taliban Ministry of Higher Education has once again compelled university students to sign a 14-point pledge. The contents of this pledge – had drawn ...

First, her education was taken away. Then, a wedding was arranged – against her will – to her cousin, a heroin addict. Latifa was left facing an unthinkable choice. “I had two options: to marry a ...

This report has been published in partnership with the Guardian. Parwana* no longer recognises her own children. Once known in her Kandahar village for her beauty, the 36-year-old now sits on the ...

This report has been published in partnership with the Guardian. The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow ...

Note: This story was updated on January 22 to include information from a new UNAMA report. Mursal* made sure to wear a long black hijab while covering her face with a black mask when she left work ...