Taliban militants (file photo)

8am: Over the past eighteen months, the Taliban have been known to arrest, torture, and humiliate former soldiers, rebellious women and girls, and analysts. This has been followed by a new wave of arrests in the past month, with more than fifty citizens, including politicians, university professors, analysts, women and girls, former soldiers, and civilians, being arrested and tortured. This has caused Amnesty International to express their concerns, stating that the Taliban have initiated a “new phase” of human rights violations and harassment. This is in addition to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) announcing an increase in the arrests of civil activists and journalists by the Taliban. Click here to read more (external link).