Taliban detain UN staff — The Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have detained two Afghan employees of the United Nations political mission, according to a statement by the UN on Wednesday, August 13. The arrests were carried out by the Taliban’s General Directorate of Intelligence in the city of Herat, located in the west of the country, on Sunday.

Farhan Haq, deputy spokesperson for the United Nations, said the organization has not been informed of the charges against the two men and has not yet been granted permission to visit them. The UN mission has called on the Taliban to respect the privileges and immunities of United Nations staff and to ensure their safety.

UN Mission Faces New Obstacles

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan is tasked with supporting humanitarian aid, promoting human rights and gender equality, and advocating for an inclusive government and economic stability. The recent detentions come amid a worsening humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, one of Asia’s poorest countries, and escalating clashes between Afghan and Pakistani forces along the border.

The Taliban regained control of Afghanistan on August 15, 2021, following the withdrawal of United States and NATO troops after two decades of conflict. Since then, the group has imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including bans on secondary and higher education and exclusion from most public life and employment.

Fereshta Abbasi, a researcher at Human Rights Watch specializing in Afghanistan, warned that these arrests “seriously threaten the work of the UN across the country and its ability to provide essential aid to the population.” Abbasi called for the immediate release of the detained staff and urged the Taliban to allow all humanitarian agencies to operate without intimidation or interference.

The detentions also occur against the backdrop of intensified border clashes. In February, Afghan forces entered Pakistani territory in response to Pakistani airstrikes in Afghanistan, prompting Islamabad to declare that the two countries were in “open war.”