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ISLAMABAD: The Taliban are investigating explicit death threats against dozens of Afghan women working for the United Nations, according to a report published Sunday.
In its latest update on the human rights situation in Afghanistan, the UN mission to the country said that dozens of female national staff were subjected to explicit death threats in May.
The threats came from unidentified individuals related to their work with the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan, or UNAMA, other agencies, funds, and programs, “requiring the UN to implement interim measures to protect their safety,” according to the report.
It said that the Taliban told the UN mission that their personnel were not responsible for the threats. An Interior Ministry investigation is underway, the report said.
Afghan authorities, including the Interior Ministry, didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment on the report or the investigation.
The Taliban barred Afghan women from working at domestic and foreign nongovernmental organizations in December 2022, extending this ban to the UN six months later, and then threatening to shut down agencies and groups still employing women.
Humanitarian agencies say the Taliban have hampered or interfered with their operations, allegations denied by authorities.
The UN report is the first official confirmation of death threats against Afghan women working in the sector. The report also highlighted other areas affecting women’s personal freedoms and safety.
In Herat, inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry began requiring women to wear a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head. Dozens of women deemed “not in compliance” were barred from entering markets or using public transportation. Several women were detained until relatives brought them a chador, the report said.
In Uruzgan, women were arrested for wearing a headscarf, a hijab, rather than a burqa.
Women have also been denied access to public areas, in line with laws banning them from such spaces. In Ghor province, police forced several families to leave a recreational area. They warned the families against visiting outdoor picnic sites with women.
In Herat, Vice and Virtue inspectors stopped family groups with women and girls from accessing an open recreational area, only allowing all-male groups.
Nobody from the Vice and Virtue Ministry was immediately available to comment on the Ghor, Herat and Uruzgan incidents, which the UN said happened in May.
In Kandahar, the Public Health Department instructed female health care workers to be accompanied to work by male guardians with an identification card proving that they were related to the woman by blood or marriage.
It wasn’t immediately clear if the card is specific to Kandahar or will be rolled out across Afghanistan.
“The process to apply for a mahram (male guardian) identification card is reportedly cumbersome and can take up to several weeks as it requires the de facto Department for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice and a member of the local community (e.g. malik, imam or village elder) to verify the relationship,” the UN report said.

JERUSALEM: Israel’s far right pressed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to go harder against Hamas, ahead of a UN Security Council meeting Sunday on the premier’s bid to conquer Gaza City.
Twenty-two months into the war in Gaza, Israel is gripped by a yawning divide, pitting those calling for an end of the conflict along with a deal for the release of the hostages against others who want to see Hamas vanquished once and for all.
The debate has only intensified after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s security cabinet announced plans Friday to expand the conflict and capture Gaza City.
While thousands took to the streets in Tel Aviv Saturday night to protest the cabinet’s decision, far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich posted a video online, slamming Netanyahu’s decision on Gaza as half-hearted.
“The prime minister and the cabinet gave in to weakness. Emotion overcame reason, and they once again chose to do more of the same — launching a military operation whose goal is not decisive victory, but rather to apply limited pressure on Hamas in order to bring about a partial hostage deal,” Smotrich said.
“They decided once again to repeat the same approach, embarking on a military operation that does not aim for a decisive resolution.”
The far-right members of Netanyahu’s cabinet, including Smotrich, have maintained considerable influence in the premier’s coalition government throughout the war — with their support seen as vital to holding at least 61-seats for a parliamentary majority.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, also of the far right, told Kan radio on Sunday: “It is possible to achieve victory. I want all of Gaza, transfer and colonization. This plan will not endanger the troops.”
In Tel Aviv, demonstrators held up pictures of hostages still in Gaza, calling on the government to secure their release.
“We will end with a direct message to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: if you invade parts of Gaza and the hostages are murdered, we will pursue you in the town squares, in election campaigns and at every time and place,” Shahar Mor Zahiro, the relative of a slain hostage, told AFP.


Amid the back and forth in Israel, the cabinet’s decision to expand the war in Gaza has touched off a wave of criticism across the globe.
On Sunday, the UN security council is set to meet to discuss the latest development.
Foreign powers, including some of Israel’s allies, have been pushing for a negotiated truce to secure the hostages’ return and help alleviate a humanitarian crisis in the Strip following repeated warnings of an unfolding famine taking hold.
Despite the backlash and rumors of dissent from Israeli military top brass, Netanyahu has remained firm.
In a post on social media late Friday, Netanyahu said “we are not going to occupy Gaza — we are going to free Gaza from Hamas.”
The premier has faced regular protests over the course of the war, with many rallies calling for the government to strike a deal after past truces saw hostages exchanged for Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody.
Out of 251 hostages captured during Hamas’s 2023 attack, 49 are still being held in Gaza, including 27 the military says are dead.
Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s health ministry, figures the United Nations says are reliable.
Hamas’s 2023 attack on Israel — which triggered the war — resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.