ISLAMABAD: Taliban authorities in Afghanistan have detained six staff members of the nongovernmental Women and Children Legal Research Foundation (WCLRF) for nearly a month, with no information provided about their whereabouts or the reasons for their arrests, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said in a statement issued in New York.

The rights group said the six men were taken into custody in Kabul on July 18 after Taliban officials ordered them to return to the organization's office to collect electronic devices that had previously been confiscated.

“Taliban have provided no information on the whereabouts of the organization’s leadership team, who were arrested in Kabul on July 18, 2026,” HRW said.

The reported detentions come as Afghanistan's Taliban rulers prepare to mark the fifth anniversary of their return to power on August 15.

The WCLRF provides assistance programs and conducts research and advocacy on the rights of women and children.

HRW's statement followed a separate announcement from the United Nations that two Afghan members of its political mission were detained Sunday in the western city of Herat by the Taliban's General Directorate of Intelligence.

The UN mission has not been informed of charges against the two men or been able to visit them, UN deputy spokesman Farhan Haq told reporters.

“The Taliban seems to consider any effort to assist women and girls a threat to their abusive rule,” said Macarena Sáez, women's rights director at Human Rights Watch.

“They should immediately provide information on the six staff members’ whereabouts and release them if held unlawfully,” she added.

According to HRW, Taliban security forces raided the WCLRF office in Kabul on June 21 and confiscated laptops and phones belonging to staff members.

“On July 18, Taliban officials ordered six male staff members to return to the organization’s office to collect their confiscated devices. Instead, all six were taken into custody,” the statement said.

Since returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban have imposed sweeping restrictions on women and girls, including barring girls from education beyond sixth grade, severely restricting women's right to work and limiting their freedom of movement.

HRW also said the Taliban had removed minimum age requirements for child marriage and made domestic violence punishable only in cases in which a woman “has suffered a broken bone or visible injuries.”

The organization said Taliban authorities had provided no information about the reasons for the latest arrests, while women journalists, women's rights defenders and women protesting for their rights have also faced arbitrary arrest and detention.

According to HRW, many have been forcibly disappeared, sometimes for weeks, held in abusive conditions and subjected to torture.

The latest arrests add to growing concerns among international rights groups over the Taliban's treatment of civil society organisations and individuals working on women's and children's rights as the group's fifth year in power approaches.

NGO

Taliban detain six rights group staffers amid wider crackdown