UN: Afghan Female Staff Received Death Threats

Dozens of Afghan women working for the United Nations in Afghanistan have received explicit death threats, according to a new UN report, amid severe restrictions on women’s rights since the Taliban returned to power in 2021.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said its female national staff were directly threatened in May. The Taliban told UNAMA that their members were not responsible, and that the Interior Ministry was investigating.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Mateen Qani, however, denied any threats occurred.

“This is completely incorrect,” Qani told the Associated Press. “We have a dedicated department and a strategic protection plan. There is no threat to them, nor can anyone threaten them.”

The threats came from unidentified individuals linked to the women’s UN work, prompting temporary security measures, the report said.

The Taliban banned Afghan women from working for domestic and foreign NGOs in December 2022, later extending the ban to the UN. They threatened to close any agencies still employing women. Aid groups accuse the Taliban of disrupting operations, claims the authorities deny.

This is the first official confirmation of death threats against Afghan women in the UN system. The report also cites other restrictions, including Vice and Virtue Ministry inspectors requiring women to wear the chador — a full-body cloak — with some women arrested for wearing only a hijab. Women are also barred from many public spaces.

A UN report in August 2024 found the Taliban had “deliberately deprived” at least 1.4 million girls of education during their three years in power.

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