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Violence against women increasing in Afghanistan: Officials
Afghan Ministry of Women’s Affairs said on Wednesday that violence against women in Afghanistan has increased in the past year.
Speaking on the occasion 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.
According to the officials the main cause of domestic violence and violence against women is war and insecurity.
“The Ministry of Women’s Affairs carried out a survey in 34 provinces and 250 districts and interviewed 2,000 people. We found that women demand an end to the violence,” said Hasina Safi, acting women’s affairs minister.
“Violence has increased compared to last year. This year 119 murders and sexual abuse cases were registered. The violence increased by 59 percent because of the insecurity,” said Spozhmai Wardak, deputy minister of women affairs.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) raised concerns and said most of the cases of violence could have been prevented.
There have been “22,472 cases of violence against women registered in Afghanistan in the past five years. Fifty two percent of the cases could have been dealt with through counselling and the other cases referred to the Ministry of Interior and Attorney General’s office,” said Shabnam Salehi, a member of AIHRC.
However, Afghan judicial bodies say that most cases of violence against women have been processed.
“The cases that were referred to the court are very unfortunate and the violence against women increased this year,” Anisa Rasooli, a court prosecutor said.
“Violence against women increases day by day. In the current year 2,088 cases have been processed – most of them are sexual abuse and assault,” Zarghona Mostaqbal, an official from the Attorney General’s Office said.
Furthermore officials from AIHRC in Paktia province said that violence against women increased in their province and in the current year 235 cases have been registered in the province.
The Women’s Network in Kabul meanwhile called for unity among the people in order to stop domestic violence.
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.
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