By Malali Bashir Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty March 27, 2025 The new school year started in Afghanistan on March 22, but for the fourth consecutive year, millions of teenage girls were barred from attending classes. Among them was Khalida, who was in the ninth grade when the Taliban seized power and banned education for girls above
Amu: As the Eid al-Fitr holiday approaches, Taliban authorities in the northeastern province of Badakhshan have issued a directive imposing a new set of restrictions on public behavior, including bans on music, women’s attire, and even customary Eid house visits. In a letter titled “Prohibitions for Eid Days,” the Directorate for the Promotion of Virtue
Amu: Tuesday marked the fifth anniversary of a deadly assault on a Sikh temple in Kabul that killed 26 people and injured eight others. Daesh claimed responsibility for the 2020 attack, one of the deadliest in recent memory against Afghanistan’s Sikh minority. Five years on, rights activists and analysts say that religious extremism has only
AFP: Tired of burkas that cover the face, urban women under the Taliban’s ‘gender apartheid’ have adopted the abaya robe favoured in Gulf nations. Click here to read more (external link).
Afghanistan International: Several Afghan opposition leaders used Nowruz to urge unity and resistance against the Taliban. They called for an end to “tyranny and oppression” and pledged to work towards a democratic and inclusive government. Abdul Rashid Dostum, former vice president and leader of the National Islamic Movement of Afghanistan, said in his Nowruz message
Ariana: Afghanistan has ranked last out of 147 countries in the 2025 edition of the World Happiness Report released Thursday. Finland has been named the happiest country in the world for the eighth consecutive year. Denmark, Iceland and Sweden followed Finland in the ranking. According to the new World Happiness Report, Afghanistan lost approximately 2.7
Afghanistan International: Rawadari, a human rights organisation, has exposed widespread violations against ethnic and religious minorities in Afghanistan under Taliban rule. In its latest report, the group accuses the Taliban of deliberately denying minorities access to government services, infrastructure projects, and humanitarian aid. In Badakhshan, no infrastructure projects have been carried out in Ismaili-majority areas,
8am: The Taliban, despite their claims of combating administrative corruption and ethnic discrimination, have engaged in widespread corruption within government institutions and have significantly fueled ethnic bias. Findings from a report by the Hasht-e Subh Daily regarding the Education Directorate of Baghlan Province reveal that the principal of a school in Central Baghlan has labeled
Afghanistan International: Former Taliban detainee Nadia Sadat told Afghanistan International that she was stripped naked and subjected to abuse in prison. She claimed that Taliban officials took photos and videos of her during interrogations. Sadat was detained for protesting in Mazar-i-Sharif and for speaking to the media about the closure of schools and universities for
Khaama: The Afghanistan National Journalists’ Union and the Afghanistan Journalists Center have released reports ahead of National Journalists’ Day, March 17, shedding light on the situation of media and journalists over the past year. These reports present a concerning picture of the restrictions, rights violations, and challenges faced by the media under the rule of