By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi and Zamira Eshanova March 10, 2026 The United States has designated Afghanistan a “state sponsor of wrongful detention,” accusing the unrecognized Taliban government of holding American citizens as bargaining chips. President Donald Trump signed an executive order in September that created the designation, which allows Washington to impose sanctions, travel restrictions,
8am: Tammy Bruce, Deputy U.S. Representative to the United Nations, says that the Taliban use prisoners as tools of pressure. Bruce said on Thursday, February 12, at the UN Security Council meeting on Afghanistan that the Taliban uses American hostages as leverage in negotiations with Washington. Tammy Bruce emphasized in this meeting that the Taliban
Amu: In a statement on Thursday, the ministry said that 565 Afghan citizens had been freed, including 517 from various detention centers across Pakistan and 48 from prisons in Iraq. The statement did not specify the reasons for their detention, referring to them only as “migrants.” However, in previous cases, Pakistani authorities have cited lack
8am: This report features an interview with a girl who was arrested on charges of engaging in extramarital relationships and transferred to Kabul province’s detention center from the Pul-e Surkh area of Kabul. This girl recounts the bitter and horrifying experience of physical and psychological torture, suicide, forced marriages, the exploitation of girls as sexual
8am: Female prisoners in Taliban-controlled prisons in the provinces of Jowzjan, Faryab, and Samangan are enduring a deplorable situation. They face humiliation, insults, physical torture, and sexual assault. According to the findings of Hasht-e Subh Daily, since the collapse of the Republic regime, the Taliban have detained and imprisoned 90 women in the three northern
Khaama: Under the condition of anonymity, a professor of sociology stated that the release of the detainees and the exemption are positive developments. The de facto government, on the other hand, “unfortunately criminalized numerous cases and termed its moral corruption, and now they consider it the same as drug trafficking, and this is worrying, he
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi April 4, 2023 The Taliban government is compiling a list of Iranian nationals imprisoned in Afghanistan for possible release following Tehran’s recent handover of hundreds of Afghan prisoners. Taliban Prosecutor-General Shamsuddin Pahlawan met with Iran’s deputy ambassador to Afghanistan, Hasan Mortazavi, in Kabul on April 3 to discuss the ongoing prisoner-release efforts. The development
Ariana: Five hundred and twenty-four Afghans arrived in Spin Boldak district of Kandahar at around 10 pm on Sunday night after being freed from Pakistani prisons. Officials in Kandahar met them, provided the necessary facilities for them and said they will return to their homes Monday morning. According to the governor’s media office, Afghans who
Akmal Dawi VOA News December 20, 2022 The State Department has welcomed the release of two U.S. nationals from Taliban detention in Afghanistan. The two were en route to Qatar on Tuesday from where they will fly to the U.S. to reunite with their families. “We are in a position to welcome the release of
8am: Since August 2021, the Taliban group has imprisoned thousands of citizens of the country for various pretexts. Most of these prisoners are former government affiliates (security employees, army soldiers and national police). Many civilians, particularly youths have been arrested on charges of collaborating with the National Resistance Front (NRF) and armed groups fighting against