Taliban Detains Six Staff of Women’s Rights Group in Kabul, Human Rights Watch Says

Human Rights Watch says Taliban authorities have detained six employees of the Foundation for Women and Children’s Legal Research in Kabul and have so far provided no information on their whereabouts. The organisation says the individuals have been held for nearly a month.

According to Human Rights Watch, Taliban officials detained the six staff members in Kabul on July 18, 2026. The group added that the Taliban have remained silent about their fate and place of detention.

Human Rights Watch said Taliban security forces had earlier raided the office of the Foundation for Women and Children’s Legal Research in Kabul on June 21 and confiscated the staff’s laptops and mobile phones. The organisation said Taliban officials then ordered the six male staff members to return to the office on July 18 to collect their seized belongings, but all six were arrested.

Makarina Saez, director of the women’s rights division at Human Rights Watch, said: “It appears the Taliban view any effort to help women and girls as a threat to their repressive rule.”

Human Rights Watch has called for the immediate disclosure of information about the six staff members’ whereabouts and for their release if they are being held unlawfully. The Foundation for Women and Children’s Legal Research works on support programmes, research and advocacy on the rights of women and children.