Over the past week, the Taliban have detained dozens of women and girls in Kabul on charges of not adhering to the group’s mandated hijab standards. Several Kabul residents have confirmed witnessing the arrest and mistreatment of women and girls by the Taliban in the city in recent days. Videos circulating on social media show women and girls in tears, asking the Taliban, “Where have you taken our children?” Some citizens of Afghanistan have described these detentions as humiliating and an attack on the identity and dignity of women. They express concern over the continuation of this trend, stating that their families’ lives are no longer safe.
On Wednesday last week, videos surfaced on social media showing women gathering in front of Taliban forces, crying and pleading, asking, “Where have you taken our children?” In these videos, the women demand the unconditional release of their daughters.
An eyewitness stated, “In the Shahr-e Naw area, near Majid Mall, I saw with my own eyes more than 20 girls and women being detained by the Taliban’s Morality Police. They were loaded into vehicles and taken away. The girls were in a terrible state; they were crying and wailing. All of them were fully covered, and I don’t know what crime they were detained for.”
Another Kabul resident, who closely witnessed the detention of girls by the Taliban’s Morality Police, told the Hasht-e Subh Daily that these arrests are carried out with “inappropriate and brutal behavior.”
This eyewitness added, “I’ve seen several instances with my own eyes where girls were detained with extremely inappropriate and savage behavior. A week ago, they pulled a girl out of a coaster vehicle. Her headscarf was wrapped around her neck in a way that she was choking, and then they threw her into a white Ranger vehicle and took her away.”
The same resident further noted, “My sister attends a course, and the Taliban’s Morality Police slapped one of her classmates, telling her to wear a face veil from now on.”
Safa (pseudonym), a woman in Kabul, said that the detention of women and girls on charges of not observing hijab is not a new issue, and women and girls in the city face such bitter incidents daily. According to her, these incidents go unreported due to widespread fear and intensified media censorship, and organizations supporting women’s rights have remained silent and taken no action.
Safa, who has witnessed the detention of girls on charges of not wearing hijab under Taliban rule, added, “On July 16, 2025, the Taliban rounded up girls from cafes, markets, and even hospitals in Shahr-e Naw’s Ansari Square in Kabul. The number exceeds 100. This happens regularly in Dasht-e Barchi, particularly at Barchi City Center, where they come and take people away from time to time. Hijab is not the issue; those detained meet the Taliban’s hijab standards, but they take people’s daughters, and due to fear, people don’t raise their voices.”
Safa expressed concern over a significant increase in murders and suicides among girls in Kabul, particularly in the Dasht-e Barchi area, stating, “In 1404 (2025–2026), the number of murders and suicides in Kabul’s districts has doubled compared to the previous year. Incidents of theft have also risen, and murders have increased at night, particularly around Dasht-e Barchi.”
Reactions to the Detention of Women and Girls
The detention of women and girls by the Taliban’s Morality Police has sparked widespread reactions among citizens and the group’s political and military opponents. The Afghanistan Freedom Front has announced that it will target the Taliban’s Morality Police with military and guerrilla attacks. Some politicians have described the Taliban’s actions as unjust and contrary to the concept of “Afghan honor.”
The Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF), in response to the detention of women and girls in Kabul, warned that the detention and abduction of women by the Taliban are unjustifiable and intolerable. The group emphasized that these actions are a clear violation of women’s human rights and an insult to their dignity. It also warned that the Taliban’s Morality Police would henceforth be targets of their attacks.
Similarly, Abdul Rab Rasul Sayyaf, a former jihadi leader, strongly criticized the detention of women and girls by the Taliban in Kabul, calling it unjust, contrary to “human decency” and “Afghan honor.” He stated, “Harassing women and detaining them by unrelated men and transferring them to prisons guarded by men not only contradicts religion and Sharia but also tramples on Islamic dignity, Afghan honor, and human decency.”
Some citizens of Afghanistan have also reacted on social media and in the press, describing the Taliban’s actions as “humiliating” and an “attack on the identity and dignity” of women. They express concern over the continuation of this trend, stating that their families’ lives are no longer secure.
Noorin, a Kabul resident, said, “The Taliban’s actions against women question human dignity. They do nothing but impose restrictions, insult, and attack women and their identity. From their leader to their soldiers, all have their eyes on women, forcing girls into coerced marriages with restrictions, and each of them has taken four wives in the past four years. If this continues, women will be devoured by the Taliban’s extremism in an even more horrific manner.”
Meanwhile, Saif-ul-Islam Khyber, the spokesperson for the Taliban’s Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, claimed that the group’s Morality Police in Kabul detained several employees and managers of production companies for dubbing “films contrary to Islamic values.” He also claimed that these films were sent to networks abroad after dubbing.
These concerns arise as, under the Taliban’s Law for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, a woman’s voice is considered “awrah” (private), and women may only leave their homes for essential needs with their faces covered and without raising their voices. According to this law, hearing a woman’s voice from inside a home is prohibited, and transporting women without a male guardian by drivers is banned.
This law grants the Taliban’s Morality Police the authority to imprison individuals for one hour to three days and to interfere in the most private aspects of people’s lives, inspecting citizens’ phones and computers for images or videos of living beings.
Recently, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Hibatullah Akhundzada, the Taliban Supreme Leader, and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, the head of the group’s Supreme Court, on charges of “crimes against humanity.” The court stated in a statement that these two senior Taliban officials are being prosecuted for their roles in the systematic gender-based persecution of women, girls, and others in Afghanistan.
You can read the Persian version of this report here:
