The Taliban’s person has warned that Afghans ungrateful for its hardline regularisation volition beryllium severely punished by God successful a connection marking the 4th day of the group’s instrumentality to power.
The connection from Haibatullah Akhunzada was made successful a societal media station connected Friday to commemorate “Victory Day”, 4 years connected from the chaotic United States and NATO withdrawal from the state aft much than 20 years of warfare arsenic the Taliban retook the capital, Kabul.
The menace was a stark reminder of the sweeping restrictions and repression of rights, particularly of women and girls, that has taken spot nether the Taliban’s rule, which is based connected its strict mentation of Islamic law.
In his statement, Akhunzada said Afghans had faced hardships for decades successful the sanction of establishing spiritual instrumentality successful the country, which helium said had saved citizens from “corruption, oppression, usurpation, drugs, theft, robbery and plunder”.
“These are large divine blessings that our radical should not hide and, during the commemoration of Victory Day, explicit large gratitude to Allah Almighty truthful that the blessings volition increase,” his connection said.
“If, against God’s will, we neglect to explicit gratitude for blessings and are ungrateful for them, we volition beryllium subjected to the terrible punishment of Allah Almighty.”
He besides advised authorities ministers to region the connection “acting” from their occupation titles, signalling the consolidation of his administration’s regularisation successful the state amid a deficiency of interior opposition.
Victory Day
Four years connected from its instrumentality to power, the Taliban authorities remains mostly isolated successful the planetary arena implicit the terrible rights restrictions imposed nether its regularisation though Russia became the archetypal state to officially recognise the Taliban medication successful aboriginal July.
It besides has adjacent ties with China, the United Arab Emirates and a fig of Central Asian states though nary of these officially recognises the Taliban administration.
Victory Day parades were planned successful respective Afghan cities connected Friday, and successful Kabul, helicopters were scheduled to driblet flowers crossed the city. Photographs of an authoritative ceremonial successful Kabul to unfastened the commemorations showed a hallway filled exclusively with antheral delegates.

‘An unfastened coiled of history’
Rather than celebrating, members of the activistic radical United Afghan Women’s Movement for Freedom staged an indoor protestation successful the northeastern state of Takhar against the Taliban’s oppressive rule, The Associated Press quality bureau reported.
“This time marked the opening of a achromatic domination that excluded women from work, acquisition and societal life,” the radical said successful a connection to the agency.
“We, the protesting women, retrieve this time not arsenic a memory, but arsenic an unfastened coiled of history, a coiled that has not yet healed. The autumn of Afghanistan was not the autumn of our will. We stand, adjacent successful the darkness.”
Afghan women besides held an indoor protestation successful the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, the bureau reported.
Repression and decease threats
The United Nations, overseas governments and quality rights groups person condemned the Taliban for their attraction of women and girls, who are banned from astir acquisition and work, arsenic good arsenic parks, gyms and travelling without a antheral guardian.
Inspectors from the Vice and Virtue Ministry necessitate women to deterioration a chador, a full-body cloak covering the head, portion a instrumentality announced a twelvemonth agone ordered women not to sing oregon recite poesy successful nationalist and for their voices and bodies to beryllium “concealed” extracurricular the home.
Last month, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued apprehension warrants against Akhunzada and the country’s main justness connected charges of committing gender-based persecution against women and girls.
ICC judges said the Taliban had “severely deprived” girls and women of the rights to education, privacy, household beingness and the freedoms of movement, expression, thought, conscience and religion.
At slightest 1.4 cardinal girls person been “deliberately deprived” of their close to an education by the Taliban government, a UN study from August 2024 found.
Among the restrictions imposed connected women is simply a prohibition connected moving for nongovernmental groups, among different jobs. A UN study this period revealed that dozens of Afghan women moving for the organisation successful the state had received nonstop decease threats.
The study said the Taliban had told the UN ngo that its cadres were not liable for the threats and a Ministry of Interior Affairs probe is nether way. An Interior Ministry spokesman, Abdul Mateen Qani, aboriginal told The Associated Press quality bureau that nary threats had been made.
In the meantime, Iran, Pakistan and the US person been sending Afghan refugees backmost to Taliban rule, wherever they hazard persecution.