June 10, 2025, RAWANews: Kobra Rezaee, just 26 years old and an Afghan refugee struggling to survive in Iran, vanished nearly two months ago after leaving for work—and what was found shattered any sense of humanity. In early June, her dismembered body was horrifically dumped like trash in the Pishva area of Varamin, near Tehran. Her limbs were severed, and parts of her—along with her phone and ID—are still missing, erased as if she never existed. DNA tests painfully confirmed the unbearable truth: this young woman’s life was ended in the cruelest way imaginable.
May 24, 2025, TOLO News: These retirees are calling on officials to pay their pensions, which they say they have not received for nearly four years.Abdul Raoof Amin, a retiree, said: “We are demanding our pension payments. Look at what has become of this society. Today, people in need and the elderly receive financial aid from many sources. We are entering the fifth year without receiving any assistance from the Islamic Emirate, and we still have not received our pensions.”
May 18, 2025, Deutsche Welle: In 2001, the Taliban destroyed two giant statues of Buddha in the Bamiyan valley, erasing traces of a pre-Islamic past. Amid many other global crises, the human rights situation in Afghanistan has been overshadowed in the international media. Millions of people continue to suffer from systemic rights violations under the Taliban-run government, a UN report has found.
May 11, 2025, BBC: The Taliban government in Afghanistan has banned chess until further notice due to fears the game is a source of gambling. Officials said the game has been prohibited indefinitely until its compatibility with Islamic law can be determined. Chess is the latest sport to be restricted by the Taliban. Women are essentially barred from participating in sport at all.
May 5, 2025, Rukhshana: A young woman has died after setting herself on fire in Taywara district of Ghor province in an alleged attempt to escape a forced marriage, local sources told Rukhshana Media. The self-immolation occurred Sunday on the same day that the woman was allegedly to be taken to the brother of local Taliban commander in Ghor, sources said.
