Afghanistan Times
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KABUL – The Taliban are investigating explicit death threats made in May against dozens of Afghan women employed by the United Nations, the UN mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a report Sunday—marking the first official confirmation of such threats against female humanitarian staff since the group’s return to power in 2021. The women, working with UNAMA and other UN agencies, reportedly received messages from unidentified individuals warning them over their work, prompting the UN to adopt emergency security measures. Taliban officials denied the threats occurred but said the Interior Ministry had opened an inquiry.
The revelations come against a backdrop of sweeping restrictions on women’s rights, including bans on most employment, public spaces, and education. According to the report, Taliban authorities in Herat have begun forcing women to wear a chador—a full-body cloak—blocking those deemed “noncompliant” from markets and public transport. In Uruzgan, women were detained for wearing only a hijab instead of a full burqa, while in Ghor and Herat, mixed-gender family groups were turned away from public parks and picnic areas. In Kandahar, female health workers must now be escorted to their jobs by male relatives carrying a government-issued guardian ID card—a process that can take weeks to secure.
Humanitarian agencies say such measures have severely disrupted life-saving aid and further endangered women already working under Taliban restrictions. The US and other Western governments have repeatedly condemned these policies as systematic gender persecution, which UN experts warn could amount to crimes against humanity.
