Amnesty International Australia has called on the Australian government to support international recognition of "gender apartheid" and back efforts to hold the Taliban accountable for what it describes as systematic violations of the rights of Afghan women and girls.
A U.N. report, released in November, stated that the Taliban ban had excluded an estimated 2.4 million girls from secondary education, while no girls have enrolled in universities in 2026.
The Taliban in Afghanistan's eastern Khost province have destroyed 650 musical instruments and music-related items confiscated during a months-long crackdown on musical instruments, highlighting the continued enforcement of the group's nationwide ban on music.
The U.N. report said the humanitarian situation in Afghanistan remains critical, driven by worsening food insecurity and malnutrition, outbreaks of diseases, the return of millions of Afghans from neighboring countries and recurring climate disasters.
Afghanistan ranked 142nd out of 143 countries in the WJP’s 2026 Rule of Law Index, published in October, just ahead of Venezuela, while Denmark, Norway and Finland occupied the top three positions.
Pakistani officials and the Afghan Taliban blamed each other this week for what they described as “unprovoked” attacks at a border crossing. The Afghan Taliban said that Pakistani forces carried out four drone strikes in the southeastern Afghan province of Paktika “without any provocation.”
The United Nations Development Program in Afghanistan said Tuesday in a post on X that the large-scale return of Afghans has added “pressure on jobs, essential services and infrastructure.” UNDP adds that between 2023 and 2025, about 4.9 million Afghans returned to the country.
University enrollment among men in Afghanistan in 2026 has fallen nearly one-third from levels before the Taliban’s takeover, while women’s enrollment has remained at zero for the third consecutive year.
Mohammad Younus Mohmand, Vice President of the Afghan Chapter of the Pakistan-Afghanistan Joint Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said that the bilateral trade has fallen by about 95 percent.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said that it documented at least four killings and 14 arbitrary arrests and detentions of former Afghan security personnel. Despite the Taliban’s announcement of a general amnesty, former Afghan officials who return to the country remain at risk.
The United Nations Children's Fund or UNICEF is warning that more than four million Afghan children could need treatment for acute malnutrition in 2027. That is the highest number recorded in the past five years, highlighting the scale of a deepening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan.
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