Khadija Ahmadzada
Herat, Afghanistan — Khadija Ahmadzada, a 22-year-old Afghan athlete and women’s taekwondo coach, was detained by Taliban “morality” forces on January 10, 2026 while training female students at a hidden sports club in Herat’s Jebrail district, according to local sources.
Ahmadzada — who has been involved in taekwondo as both a competitor and coach and is reported to have been a member of Afghanistan’s national taekwondo team — worked to create opportunities for girls and young women to train in the sport despite severe restrictions on women’s public activities under Taliban rule.
Her father and the owner of the facility were also arrested at the same time, and all three remain held in the central prison in Herat. The family’s efforts to promote women’s sport have drawn concern from rights defenders after the arrest.
The detention has sparked protests from Afghan women’s rights activists and sports figures, who denounce the arrests as an affront to basic freedoms and call for her immediate release.
Richard Bennett, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights in Afghanistan, has urged the Taliban to ensure Ahmadzada’s safety and release her, highlighting the detention as part of a broader pattern of intimidation against women professionals across the country.