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Daikundi holds its first-ever all-female motorcycle rally
Supporting women’s rights and the 16-day campaign to end violence against women, ten female motorcyclists recently held the first all-women’s motorcycle rally in central Daikundi province.
In keeping with this year’s campaign theme “Orange the World: Fund, Respond, Prevent, Collect!” the women all wore orange scarves around their necks as they showed their support for the cause.
The rally took place in the provincial capital of Nili, and was organized jointly by the provincial government and Oxfam.
According to local officials the aim was for the women to take a stand against customs of suppressing women and to show they are capable of riding motorcycles and in doing so breaking down social taboos attached to it.
The female bikers meanwhile welcomed the initiative and called on families to allow their daughters to join motorcycle groups.
Last month the Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs said that violence against women in Afghanistan has increased in the past year.
Speaking at the launch of International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women and the launch of the 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence campaign, the ministry said that 2,582 cases of violence against women have been reported to them in the past year.
They also said that in the past four months, 34 cases, including murders, have been reported to the ministry.
This comes after repeated calls by the Afghan government and the foreign community for women’s rights to be preserved and to be worked on.
Calls to preserve women’s rights in Afghanistan have been growing amid ongoing peace talks between the Afghan Republic and the Taliban in Doha. In line with this, research by UN Women and the Council on Foreign Relations said recently that when women participate in peace talks in a meaningful capacity, the resulting agreement is 64 percent less likely to fail and 35 percent more likely to last at least 15 years.
However, the research found that between 1990 and 2017, women made up only two percent of mediators, eight percent of negotiators, and five percent of witnesses and signatories in all major peace processes around the world.
Nooruddin Azizi, Afghanistan’s Minister of Industry and Commerce, met with Yu Xiaoyong, China’s Special Representative in Kabul, to discuss expanding trade and investment opportunities between the two countries, the ministry said.
According to a statement from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce issued on Wednesday, Azizi said Afghanistan offers a secure and favorable environment for investment and invited Chinese investors to explore opportunities across various sectors of the Afghan economy.
He also stressed the need to increase and facilitate Afghan exports to China, particularly products such as cotton, pomegranates, pine nuts, and precious and semi-precious stones. Azizi called for improved customs, transit, and transportation facilities to strengthen trade between the two countries.
Yu, for his part, noted the growing interest of Chinese traders and investors in the Afghan market, describing Afghanistan as a country with significant untapped investment potential within China’s broader economic strategy.
Both sides emphasized the importance of closer cooperation between relevant institutions in the two countries to facilitate trade and promote investment, according to the statement.
Uzbekistan’s President Shavkat Mirziyoyev has officially ratified the Preferential Trade Agreement (PTA) between Uzbekistan and Afghanistan.
The agreement was first signed on 10 June 2025 during the Tashkent International Investment Forum by Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment and Foreign Trade Laziz Kudratov and Afghanistan’s Minister Nuriddin Azizi, Uzbekistan Daily reported.
The PTA eliminates tariffs on 14 categories of goods, simplifies the issuance of phytosanitary permits for Afghan agricultural products, and introduces additional support measures for Uzbek exporters.
In February 2026, Uzbekistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Jamshid Khodjaev held online talks with Azizi to accelerate the agreement’s entry into force, advance investment projects, and promote industrial cooperation. A new joint business forum is planned to take place in Kabul after the conclusion of Ramadan.
The agreement is expected to strengthen bilateral trade, boost economic ties, and create new opportunities for Afghan businesses and exporters.
A senior official from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) says many Afghans living in Iran are facing increasingly difficult decisions as insecurity and economic hardship deepen across the region.
Arafat Jamal, the UNHCR representative in Afghanistan, told Al Jazeera that Afghans in Iran are caught between two difficult realities: remaining in Iran amid growing instability and economic strain, or returning to Afghanistan where many also face uncertainty and insecurity.
“At the moment, it seems to be more of a preemptive move,” Jamal said, referring to Afghans leaving Iran. “People are describing bombs falling around them. There is a great deal of fear, but they are also describing a dysfunctional economy.”
According to Jamal, approximately 110,000 Afghans have returned from Iran so far this year, many driven by fear of escalating conflict and deteriorating living conditions.
“For these people there are no good choices,” he said. “They are fleeing one war only to come to another,” Jamal added, referring to ongoing cross-border tensions and military activity involving Pakistan and Afghanistan.
The UNHCR official noted that the current wave of returns follows an already unprecedented movement of people.
In 2025, around 2.8 million Afghans returned to Afghanistan, making it the largest refugee return movement in the world that year.
Humanitarian agencies warn that Afghanistan is struggling to absorb such large numbers of returnees, particularly as the country faces widespread poverty, limited employment opportunities, and reduced international aid.
Jamal also cautioned that the United Nations currently lacks sufficient funding to maintain long-term assistance programs for returning refugees.
Without additional financial support, aid organizations may struggle to provide housing, food, and basic services to the growing number of returnees arriving in Afghanistan.
Azizi meets Chinese envoy to discuss expanding trade and investment in Afghanistan
Uzbekistan ratifies preferential trade agreement with Afghanistan
Afghanistan’s white-ball series against Sri Lanka postponed
Afghan refugees in Iran face ‘impossible choices,’ UNHCR official warns
Afghanistan and Oman foreign minister discuss regional developments in phone call
Pakistani military jet downed in Afghanistan’s Jalalabad, pilot captured alive
Afghan Air Force conducts airstrikes in Islamabad, other cities
IEA releases three Pakistani soldiers to mark Ramadan
Afghanistan’s Chief of Armed Forces underscores readiness and equipment for national defense
Afghanistan welcomes investment and technology partnerships with India
Tahawol: Demands to end Afghanistan–Pakistan conflict reviewed
Saar: Resolving Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions discussed
Tahawol: International Reactions to Iran’s Newly Appointed Leader
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