Taliban takes responsibility for deadly Afghanistan hospital bombing

When the Taliban seized power in 2021, many people, including some Western diplomats, expected the fundamentalist group to rule differently this time around. A year later, Afghanistan's rulers have proven them wrong.

Afghanistan's ultra-conservative Taliban leadership has announced what it says is the first public execution that has taken place since its return to power.

After talks broke down, Pakistani security forces stormed a counter-terrorism center to free officials held hostage by Taliban militants.

The Taliban said they were suspending university classes for women until further notice, once more restricting women's access to formal education. The decision was announced after a meeting of the Taliban government.

Women protested and cried outside universities as the ban was enforced. More and more countries have condemned the decision, with the UN urging a reversal.

Save the Children, the Norwegian Refugee Council and CARE said they could not resume their work without women staff. The Taliban had ordered all nongovernmental organizations to suspend their female employees.

Taliban ought to fear ISIS-K: Afghan journalist Ali Latifi

The Security Council has called for the "full, equal, and meaningful participation of women and girls in Afghanistan," after the Taliban barred women from working in NGOs and attending universities.

Women and girls have been largely excluded from public life in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August last year. Many women have not been allowed to return to their jobs. The Taliban banned women from all universities last week.

Aid groups are warning of a dire situation in Afghanistan following the Taliban's banning of female NGO workers. Many major international aid groups have suspended their operations, including the Norwegian Refugee Council (NRC). We spoke to the NRC's Afghanistan director, Neil Turner, who said that organisations like his need female employees in order to access the women they serve.

The Taliban claimed to have killed members of the so-called "Islamic State" (IS), who were tied to an attack on a Chinese hotel in Kabul last month. Afghanistan is facing a significant security crisis under Taliban rule.

There has been global outrage over the Taliban's announcement to ban women from universities. In our first edition for 2023, we meet the Afghan women who are bravely protesting against the decree.