Fawzia Koofi Criticizes Ban on Women’s Health Services in Kunar

Fawzia Koofi, former member of the Afghan House of Representatives and a prominent women’s rights advocate, sharply criticized the Taliban administration on social media for prohibiting women from working in the healthcare sector.

While praising Qatar’s role in providing aid to earthquake-affected Afghans, Koofi questioned the religious legitimacy of the restrictions imposed by the Taliban. She asked whether the Taliban consider themselves “more religious” than the government of Qatar, highlighting the contrast in women’s rights and humanitarian response between the two entities.

Koofi emphasized that in Kunar province, the ban on female doctors and healthcare workers has led to the deaths of pregnant women—a tragic outcome she attributes directly to the Taliban’s strict regulations restricting women’s participation in providing essential services.

Addressing Taliban leader Hibatullah Akhundzada, Koofi warned that history will remember him as someone who deprived women of “basic rights necessary for survival.” She described the Taliban’s actions as “cruel” and “shameful.”

The prohibition of women’s activities in healthcare is among the Taliban’s most controversial policies, drawing widespread domestic and international criticism and raising concerns about increasing mortality rates among Afghan women and children in underserved regions.