Afghanistan
Where
Map of Afghanistan. Image courtesy of The World Factbook is located in the pubic domain.
Afghanistan, a South Asian country, borders Tajikistan, Pakistan, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Iran, and China. Up to 85% of Afghanistan’s population are Sunni Muslims.[1] There has been longstanding tension between the Sunnis and the Shia minority.[2]
The Hazaras are a Shia ethnic minority in Afghanistan, and they have faced discrimination for centuries.[3] Before the 19th century, Hazaras made up 67% of Afghanistan’s population. After decades of state-sponsored persecution, they now represent about 9%.[4]
The Taliban in Afghanistan practices a radical version of Sunni Islam. Taliban members adhere to an ideology that denies women’s rights and the rights of intellectuals, activists, political dissidents, and Shia Muslims.[5] They target the Hazaras due to their ethnicity, religious practice, and perceived progressive culture.[6]
When
The Taliban was founded in the early 1990s and was backed by the CIA to fight Soviet occupation. The organization became popular based on promises to impose stability and law after years of conflict. It controlled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001, and it was backed financially by Pakistan.[7]
On September 11, 2001, Al-Qaeda perpetrated the 9/11 attacks on the United States. Al Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden was presumed to be in Afghanistan. President George Bush authorized force against those responsible for 9/11, which led to the U.S. invasion of Afghanistan to search for Bin Laden – who was found in Pakistan and killed. The U.S. invasion of Afghanistan dislodged the Taliban from power and helped to install a civilian government in Afghanistan.[8]
For the next two decades, the US tried unsuccessfully to quell Taliban resistance. Over 47,000 civilians, 6,000 U.S. troops, 1,100 NATO troops, 73,000 Afghan troops, and tens of thousands of Taliban fighters were killed in the subsequent war.[9] The Taliban persevered because of massive revenue streams from poppy cultivation, heroin trafficking, extortion, the mining of minerals and precious stones, and foreign funding from China. The Taliban earns from $300 million to $1.6 billion annually, money used largely for weapons and military support.[10]
Taliban attacks on civilians increased significantly in 2020. Nevertheless, the Trump administration signed a preliminary peace deal with the Taliban, and President Biden then withdrew all U.S. troops in early 2020.[11]
How
The Hazaras have long faced state-sanctioned persecution in Afghanistan. They have been subjected to ethnic cleansing, slavery, land grabs, looting, and the pillaging of homes. Since the inception of the Taliban, the Hazaras have faced an acute threat of annihilation.[12]
The most marked event in the Taliban’s persecution of Hazaras was the massacre in Mazar-i-Sharif on August 8, 1998. The Taliban captured the city, which had a large Hazara population. Invading troops did not discriminate between armed forces and innocent civilians and killed up to 20,000 people. Over the next few days, Taliban fighters systematically persecuted ethnic minorities in the city, with Hazaras targeted most intensely. They were raped, sold into slavery, forcibly converted to Sunni Islam, or slaughtered.[13]
Taliban terrorists have killed thousands of Hazaras in attacks over past decades at schools, weddings, mosques, and hospitals across the country.[14] In 2016, 85 unarmed civilians were slaughtered at a peaceful Hazara protest.[15] In 2017, 41 civilians died in the bombing of a Hazara neighborhood in Kabul.[16] In 2021, 90 students were killed in an attack on a Hazara girls’ school.[17]
Hazaras have also been persecuted by other groups. The Islamic State’s affiliate in Afghanistan has declared war on Shia Muslims since 2014.[18] The Afghan civilian government of 2001-2021 failed to protect Hazaras from terrorist attacks, determining that Hazara lives are expendable and not worth the cost of security efforts. Government-linked warlords perpetrated some of the attacks.[19]
With the Taliban now firmly in power, intellectuals and activists are persecuted. Women face a life without education, employment, or autonomy. Hazaras are at risk of annihilation. Thousands of civilians are desperate to flee the country, yet many states have closed their doors to the refugees. Civilians are in grave danger and require immediate humanitarian aid.
Today
Since the Taliban takeover in August 2021, the country has undergone significant changes, causing Afghans to be concerned about the stability of government, human rights, economic conditions, and security.
The Taliban has made noticeable restrictions on women’s and girl’s rights. These restrictions have been the most obvious degradation since 2021, with dozens of gender-based decrees imposed in the short time frame. These decrees include restrictions on working, including a ban on females employed with the United Nations or international NGOs in Afghanistan, and education limitations for Afghani women and restrictions on their presence in public locations such as parks or gyms.[20] Arbitrary arrests and extrajudicial killings have become more common for women suspected of violating these restrictions.[21] In summer 2024, women were banned from speaking in public.[22]
Economic collapse followed the Taliban’s return to power in 2021. Western nations have placed economic sanctions on Afghanistan, including asset freezes and banking restrictions, in protest over the human rights violations. Aid has been withdrawn, and people are without adequate food and healthcare. Most countries refuse to recognize the Taliban as a legitimate government.
In January 2025, the International Criminal Court Prosecutor requested arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada, the Supreme Leader of the Taliban, and Abdul Hakim Haqqany, the Chief Justice of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,” for alleged “crime[s] against humanity of persecution on gender grounds.”[23] The ICC issued those arrest warrants in July 2025.[24]
In October 2025, the UN Human Rights Council established an independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan to collect and preserve evidence of serious human rights violations and possible international crimes.[25] The mechanism reflects growing international concern over Taliban restrictions on women and girls, repression of civil society, persecution of minorities, and the worsening humanitarian crisis.[26]
Afghanistan is particularly affected by the climate crisis, with increasing desertification and drought leading to water scarcity, food insecurity, and displacement. It is estimated that 21.9 million Afghans (45%) require humanitarian assistance, including food and medical aid today.[27] As the humanitarian crisis worsens and aid decreases, Afghanistan remains a failed state with rampant human rights abuses.
Updated by Alex Bagdade, June 2026.
References
[1] U.S. Department of State. (n.d.). 2022 Report on International Religious Freedom: Afghanistan. U.S. Department of State. https://www.state.gov/reports/2022-report-on-international-religious-freedom/afghanistan/
[2] Council on Foreign Relations. (2023, April 23). The Sunni-Shia Divide. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/article/sunni-shia-divide
[3] Minority Rights Group. (n.d.) Hazaras in Afghanistan. Minority Rights Group. https://minorityrights.org/communities/hazaras/
[4] UNHCR. (2008). World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples – Afghanistan : Hazaras. UNHCR. https://www.refworld.org/reference/countryrep/mrgi/2008/en/107199
[5] Maizland, L. (2023, January 19). The Taliban in Afghanistan. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan
[6] Abbasi, F. (2024, May 3). Attacks Target Afghanistan’s Hazaras. Human Rights Watch. https://www.hrw.org/news/2024/05/03/attacks-target-afghanistans-hazaras
[7] Maizland, L. (2023, January 19). The Taliban in Afghanistan. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan
[8] Bergen, P. (2024, November 19). September 11 attacks. Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/event/September-11-attacks
[9] Bateman, K. (2022, November 3). In Afghanistan, Was a Loss Better than Peace? United States Institute of Peace. https://www.usip.org/publications/2022/11/afghanistan-was-loss-better-peace
[10] Maizland, L. (2023, January 19). The Taliban in Afghanistan. Council on Foreign Relations. https://www.cfr.org/backgrounder/taliban-afghanistan
[11] North Atlantic Treaty Organization (2022, August 31). NATO and Afghanistan. North Atlantic Treaty Organization. https://www.nato.int/cps/en/natohq/topics_8189.htm
[12] Hazara Research Collective. (2020, September 6). International Relations and Defence Committee: The UK and Afghanistan, Call for Evidence, Written evidence (AFG0008). Hazara Research Collective. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/11165/pdf
[13] Hazara Research Collective. (2020, September 6). International Relations and Defence Committee: The UK and Afghanistan, Call for Evidence, Written evidence (AFG0008). Hazara Research Collective. https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&opi=89978449&url=https://committees.parliament.uk/writtenevidence/11165/pdf
[14] Gannon, K. (2021, June 11). Afghan Hazaras being killed at school, play, even at birth. Associated Press. https://apnews.com/article/islamic-state-group-shootings-05612533bbcbfa2d836d46d84b82ee92
[15] United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. (2016, October). Special Report, Attack on a Peaceful Demonstration in Kabul, 23 July 2016. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. https://unama.unmissions.org/sites/default/files/23_july_suicide_attack_against_peaceful_demonstration_-_18_oct_2016.pdf
[16] BBC. (2017, December 28). Afghanistan suicide bomb attack: Dozens killed in Kabul. BBC. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-42500769
[17] Nossiter, A. (2021, May 9). ‘Why Do We Deserve to Die?’ Kabul’s Hazaras Bury Their Daughters. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/09/world/europe/afghanistan-school-attack-hazaras.html
[18] Constable, P. (2021, June 6). Afghan Hazaras fear Taliban gains. Washington Post. https://www.genocidewatch.com/single-post/scarred-by-may-school-bombing-afghanistan-s-hazaras-fear-what-awaits-them-as-taliban-gains-ground
[19] Paiman, N. (2020, October 20). The Hazara Genocide and Systemic Discrimination in Afghanistan. The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights. https://civilrights.org/blog/the-hazara-genocide-and-systemic-discrimination-in-afghanistan/#
[20] Smith, G. (2024 August). Afghanistan Three Years after the Taliban Takeover. International Crisis Group https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-asia/afghanistan/afghanistan-three-years-after-taliban-takeover
[21] Amnesty International. (2023). Human Rights in Afghanistan. Amnesty International https://www.amnesty.org/en/location/asia-and-the-pacific/south-asia/afghanistan/report-afghanistan/
[22] Kelly, A and Joya, Z. (2024, August 26). ‘Frightening’ Taliban law bans women from speaking in public. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/article/2024/aug/26/taliban-bar-on-afghan-women-speaking-in-public-un-afghanistan
[23] International Criminal Court. (2025, January 23). Statement of ICC Prosecutor Karim A.A.
Khan KC Applications for arrest warrants in the situation in Afghanistan. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/statement-icc-prosecutor-karim-aa-khan-kc-applications-arrest-warrants-situation-afghanistan
[24] International Criminal Court. (2025, July 8). Situation in Afghanistan: ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II issues arrest warrants for Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/situation-afghanistan-icc-pre-trial-chamber-ii-issues-arrest-warrants-haibatullah-akhundzada
[25] Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights. (2025, October 6).
Establishment of independent investigative mechanism for Afghanistan answers call for
accountability. https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2025/10/establishment-independent-investigative-mechanism-afghanistan-answers-call
[26] Human Rights Watch. (2026). World Report 2026: Afghanistan. https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2026/country-chapters/afghanistan
[27] GOV.UK. (2023, May 15). Country policy and information note: humanitarian situation, Afghanistan, April 2026. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/afghanistan-country-policy-and-information-notes/country-policy-and-information-note-humanitarian-situation-afghanistan-april-2026-accessible