Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: A War Against Shiites, Women, and the Modern World

Nearly five years after reclaiming power in August 2021, the Taliban regime has moved far beyond establishing political control. The group has instituted a coordinated, multi-front campaign to forcibly restructure Afghan society. By systemically purging religious diversity, erasing women from the public sphere, and severing the population’s digital connections to the outside world, the Taliban is executing a total state-sanctioned war against the modern age.

1. The Systematic Suppression of Afghanistan’s Shiites

While the Taliban presents its rule as one of national unity and religious order, the reality for Afghanistan’s Shiite population—predominantly belonging to the Hazara ethnic group—is one of sustained political exclusion, cultural marginalization, and increasing pressure toward religious conformity. Since the group’s return to power in 2021, the Ja'fari (Twelver Shiite) school of jurisprudence, previously recognized under Afghanistan’s legal framework, has been progressively dismantled.

1.1. Political and Legal Erasure

The Taliban officially recognizes only the Hanafi school of Sunni Islam. In the aftermath of its takeover, the movement abolished the Shiite Personal Status Law, which had previously governed family and inheritance matters for Shiite citizens. As a result, all personal-status cases are now adjudicated exclusively under Hanafi jurisprudence. Senior Taliban officials, including the Minister of Higher Education Neda Mohammad Nadim, have publicly stated that Afghanistan recognizes only a single legitimate school of Islamic law.

This doctrinal position has translated into near-total exclusion from state structures:

• Exclusion from Governance: Shiites and Hazaras hold only a very limited number of symbolic positions within the administration, with reports indicating just two deputy minister posts and no meaningful representation in senior decision-making roles.
• Local Administrative Displacement: Even in provinces and districts with Shiite majorities, governance and security structures are largely controlled by non-local Taliban appointees, effectively removing local political agency.
• Religious Institutional Marginalization: Provincial religious councils in Shiite-populated areas reportedly contain no Shiite clerics, eliminating formal representation in religious governance structures.

1.2. Educational and Cultural Suppression

The Taliban has implemented a systematic restructuring of educational content to align exclusively with Hanafi jurisprudence. The Ministry of Higher Education has ordered universities and private institutions to remove books deemed incompatible with Hanafi doctrine, including works on Shiite theology and jurisprudence.

Reports indicate that Shiite religious texts and prayer books have been confiscated from mosques and educational institutions. At the Islam Qala border crossing, religious materials brought by pilgrims returning from Iran and Iraq—such as Ziyarat Ashura and Communication with God—have been seized and labeled as containing “polytheistic content” or material considered offensive to Sunni companions.

In parallel, the teaching of Ja'fari jurisprudence has been removed entirely from school curricula and university programs, including at institutions where it was previously part of the Sharia faculty, such as Bamyan University.

1.3. Restrictions on Religious Practice and Public Expression

Beyond institutional exclusion, Shiite religious practice has faced increasing restrictions in public life.

(Taliban presence during Shiite Muharram commemorations in Afghanistan.)

During Muharram commemorations, Taliban authorities have imposed limitations on public mourning practices, including bans on nighttime gatherings, restrictions on public processions, and removal of religious symbols from public spaces. In several provinces, mourning flags displayed in streets and public areas have been removed, with permission generally limited to enclosed religious spaces such as mosques and tekiyas.

The most recent Muharram period in 2026 confirmed the continuation of these measures. Local reports from Herat and Kabul indicated that Taliban forces removed newly installed mourning flags at the start of the month and restricted the display of Shiite religious symbols in public. While flags were reportedly permitted inside mosques and congregation halls, public religious expression remained heavily constrained. Earlier restrictions have also included bans on public water distribution for mourners, prohibition of loudspeaker broadcasts of elegies, and limits on inviting Sunni participants to Shiite ceremonies.

Security concerns further complicate these observances. Shiite gatherings have historically been targeted by militant attacks, yet community-led security measures have reportedly been weakened. Local sources have noted that weapons previously held in mosques and tekiyas for protection have been confiscated by authorities.

Violence against mourners has also been reported in previous years, including incidents in which Taliban forces used lethal force against participants in Ashura commemorations, resulting in civilian casualties.

1.4. Pressure Toward Religious Conformity

The Taliban has also exerted direct pressure on religious identity and practice.

Differences in religious observance, particularly regarding the sighting of the moon for Eid al-Fitr, have led to confrontations. Shiite Muslims have reportedly been pressured to follow Taliban-announced dates for religious holidays, and in some cases, clerics have been detained for organizing independent Eid prayers. There are also reports of individuals being physically forced to break their fast in line with Taliban declarations.

At the institutional level, this pressure has extended into higher education. At Bamyan University, students were reportedly required to sign formal commitments pledging adherence to Hanafi jurisprudence and alignment with Taliban-defined religious principles. Resistance to these pledges led to tensions between students and faculty, including instances of verbal abuse and physical confrontation, particularly between Shiite and Hanafi students.

1.5. Clerical Intimidation and Land Disputes

Shiite religious scholars have faced repeated intimidation. Members of the Taliban’s morality enforcement apparatus have detained and mistreated clerics, including incidents in western Kabul where a Shiite scholar was reportedly beaten and humiliated during questioning related to Shiite legal practices.

At the community level, long-standing land disputes involving nomadic Kuchi groups have intensified under Taliban rule. Armed Kuchi groups frequently enter Hazara-dominated areas in central Afghanistan during seasonal migration, leading to destruction of farmland and disputes over land ownership. Human rights reports indicate that Taliban authorities have frequently ruled in favor of Kuchi claimants, resulting in the forced displacement of entire villages in provinces such as Daykundi and Uruzgan. In several cases, ancestral Shiite land has been transferred to other groups following these rulings.

1.6. Institutional Isolation and Lack of Political Dialogue

Despite repeated appeals from Shiite religious bodies and community representatives, there is little evidence of sustained or structured political dialogue between the Taliban authorities and Shiite institutions. Requests for recognition of Shiite jurisprudence, participation in governance, and protection of religious rights have not been meaningfully addressed.

Shiite community leaders continue to report that formal correspondence and delegation requests often remain unanswered, while channels for negotiation or institutional representation remain extremely limited. As a result, grievances related to religious restrictions, political exclusion, and land disputes are increasingly handled outside formal state mechanisms, contributing to a growing sense of institutional isolation.

This absence of dialogue reinforces a broader pattern that runs through all levels of Shiite experience under Taliban rule: exclusion from decision-making, restriction of religious practice, and limited access to legal or political remedies.

2. Women: The Taliban's Largest Target

If one group has borne the brunt of Taliban rule since August 2021, it is Afghanistan's women and girls. No other segment of society has been subjected to such a broad and systematic assault on its rights, opportunities, and freedoms.

When the Taliban returned to power, they initially promised that women would be allowed to study, work, and participate in society "within the framework of Islamic law." Those assurances quickly proved meaningless. Over the following years, the regime introduced an unprecedented series of decrees, restrictions, and prohibitions that have transformed Afghanistan into one of the most restrictive places in the world for women.

Today, Afghan women face barriers in education, employment, healthcare, political participation, freedom of movement, access to public spaces, and even family life. International observers increasingly describe the situation not as ordinary discrimination, but as a systematic effort to erase women from public life.

2.1. Pillars of Female Autonomy Dismantled

One of the Taliban's first major acts after seizing power was to ban girls from attending secondary school. Millions of Afghan girls were suddenly denied access to education beyond the sixth grade.

The restrictions did not stop there. In December 2022, women were banned from universities, ending higher education for an entire generation of Afghan women. Many female students who had spent years preparing for professional careers suddenly found themselves locked out of classrooms and deprived of any future academic prospects.

Employment opportunities were likewise dismantled. Women were removed from many government positions and barred from working for most national and international non-governmental organizations. Numerous professions that had previously offered opportunities for women—including law, public administration, journalism, and civil service—effectively disappeared.

The consequences extend beyond individual careers. With millions of women excluded from education and employment, Afghanistan has lost a substantial portion of its skilled workforce, further deepening the country's economic crisis.

2.2. The Systematic Erasure of Women from Public Life

The Taliban's campaign against women extends far beyond schools and workplaces. Since 2021, the regime has issued well over one hundred decrees, directives, and restrictions targeting women and girls.

Women have been barred from parks, gyms, sports facilities, and many recreational spaces. Beauty salons—one of the last sectors providing employment and economic independence for women—were forcibly closed nationwide.

Political participation has been eliminated. Before the Taliban takeover, women served as members of parliament, judges, prosecutors, lawyers, journalists, diplomats, and senior government officials. Today, not a single woman holds a position in the Taliban cabinet.

The Ministry of Women's Affairs has been abolished and replaced by the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice, an institution responsible for enforcing many of the regime's restrictive social regulations.

Women have also largely disappeared from public representation. Female television presenters are required to cover their faces on air. Images of women have been removed from many public advertisements, billboards, and official communications. In many areas, the presence of women in public spaces has become increasingly rare.

The cumulative effect is striking. Women are no longer merely restricted; they are being systematically excluded from visible participation in public life.

2.3. Restrictions on Movement and Daily Life

The Taliban have imposed extensive restrictions on women's freedom of movement.

Women are often required to travel with a male guardian, commonly referred to as a mahram. Long-distance travel without a male relative is generally prohibited, while local enforcement practices vary across different regions of the country.

Strict dress regulations have also been imposed. Women are expected to wear clothing that fully conceals their bodies, and authorities have repeatedly pressured women to comply with increasingly restrictive interpretations of acceptable dress.

What makes these regulations particularly coercive is that punishment frequently extends beyond the individual woman. Male relatives may be penalized if female family members are deemed to have violated Taliban dress or conduct requirements.

For widows, single women, and those without close male relatives, these restrictions create severe practical difficulties. Accessing employment, healthcare, education, humanitarian aid, or even routine daily services often becomes significantly more complicated.

2.4. Healthcare Under Pressure

Restrictions on women have also created serious concerns in the healthcare sector.

Afghanistan already faces one of the highest maternal mortality rates in the world. Yet Taliban policies have further undermined access to medical services by restricting educational opportunities for women in health-related professions.

Particularly alarming were reports that women were barred from studying medicine and midwifery—fields that had remained among the few educational paths still partially accessible to women. Because many Afghan women are reluctant or unable to receive treatment from male physicians, the reduction in female healthcare professionals threatens to create long-term shortages throughout the country.

International organizations have warned that these policies could contribute to worsening maternal health outcomes and further limit access to essential medical care for women and girls.

2.5. Forced Marriage and Economic Vulnerability

The Taliban takeover has coincided with a severe economic and humanitarian crisis that has disproportionately affected women and girls.

Human rights organizations report increasing concerns regarding forced marriages, child marriages, and marriages arranged as a survival mechanism by impoverished families. As economic opportunities disappear and poverty deepens, many families face immense pressure that leaves young girls particularly vulnerable.

Women's rights activists have repeatedly warned that the combination of economic hardship, educational exclusion, and legal inequality creates conditions in which exploitation becomes more widespread and more difficult to challenge.

2.6. Legalizing Domestic Violence: The 2026 Penal Code

In early 2026, additional concerns emerged following reports about a new Taliban penal code.

According to legal analyses and human rights organizations, the code permits husbands to physically discipline their wives under certain circumstances and provides only limited legal protection for victims of domestic violence.

(JURIST reported (February 2026) on the Taliban’s new penal code legalizing domestic violence against women)

Critics argue that the legislation effectively legitimizes domestic abuse by establishing an extremely narrow definition of punishable violence while placing substantial burdens on women seeking legal recourse.

The code has also been criticized for provisions affecting women who leave their homes or seek refuge with relatives without their husband's consent. Human rights advocates warn that such measures further reduce the already limited protections available to women facing abuse.

For many observers, the new legal framework reflects a broader trend: the transformation of gender discrimination from social practice into formal state policy.

2.7. A Gender Apartheid System

Taken together, these measures form one of the most comprehensive systems of gender-based restrictions in the modern world.

Women have been excluded from higher education, marginalized in the workforce, removed from politics, restricted in their movement, deprived of many public spaces, and subjected to increasingly intrusive regulation of their daily lives.

As a result, numerous human rights organizations, legal experts, and women's rights advocates have begun describing Afghanistan's situation as a form of "gender apartheid"—a system in which discrimination against women is not merely tolerated, but embedded within the governing structure itself.

Nearly five years after the Taliban's return to power, Afghanistan remains the only country in the world where girls are officially prohibited from attending secondary school and women are systematically excluded from many of the most fundamental aspects of public life.

3. The Fight Against the Smartphone

In its latest campaign to police the private lives of its citizens, the Taliban leadership has extended its web of restrictions directly to the screens in people's pockets. Under a new directive from the group’s reclusive supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, all government employees, including teachers and education workers, are strictly prohibited from using smartphones.

The consequences for defying the ban are severe: officials have warned that violators will face military courts, immediate dismissal from their jobs, and the public destruction of their devices.

3.1. A Campaign of Surveillance and Compliance

The ban was issued as a verbal decree by Akhundzada. To enforce it, the Taliban's "Supervision and Pursuit of Orders and Commands" department has launched an aggressive compliance campaign. The agency has distributed tracking forms across government ministries and military installations, requiring all employees to log their personal details and phone numbers for active monitoring.

Defiance is being treated as a criminal offense. Videos have recently circulated on social media showing Taliban compliance officers physically smashing smartphones seized from personnel following the leader's orders. While the ban does not yet officially apply to the general public, fears are mounting that a nationwide restriction is imminent. Analysts suggest the regime could choose to squeeze the public market by heavily restricting or banning the import of smartphones altogether.

The sudden crackdown begs a critical question: What is the regime looking for? The answer lies in two core anxieties gripping the Taliban leadership: crushing digital counter-narratives and enforcing a radical, tribal worldview that cannot coexist with the modern age.

3.2. Crushing Counter-Narratives and Digital Resistance

While the Taliban has successfully suppressed physical protests and dismantled independent domestic media through brutal censorship, cyberspace has remained a stubborn frontier of resistance.

For nearly five years, ordinary Afghan citizens armed with smartphones and internet connections have acted as decentralized reporters. They have bypassed state censorship to broadcast the grim realities of life under the regime—documenting corruption, ethnic discrimination, human rights abuses, and extrajudicial killings. These citizen-led narratives have severely damaged the Taliban’s efforts to project an image of stability and legitimacy to the international community.

Furthermore, digital connectivity has actively undermined the Taliban’s most regressive policies. Despite the group’s sweeping ban on female education, women and girls have continued their schooling through a rapidly growing network of online academies and distance-learning platforms.

The regime's frustration with the internet is not new. The Taliban previously orchestrated a sudden, nationwide internet shutdown, beginning with the severance of fiber-optic cables in Balkh province. The blackout crippled Afghanistan’s connection to the world—grounding flights, freezing banking operations, halting commercial trade, and disabling critical public systems. Sources indicate the shutdown was ordered by Akhundzada himself—a leader famously hostile to modern technology, who refuses to use a smartphone or view television content. While the regime was ultimately forced to restore connectivity due to economic necessity, the incident underscored their willingness to paralyze the nation to halt the flow of information.

3.3. Enforcing a Tribal Order in a Digital Age

The smartphone crackdown is deeply tied to the Taliban’s broader effort to systematically erase half of Afghanistan's population from public life. Under the Law on the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, the regime has banned the publication of live human images and outlawed listening to music. While Taliban morality police regularly raid public spaces to seize and burn musical instruments and force local TV stations to convert into audio-only radio broadcasts, smartphones allow citizens to effortlessly bypass these checkpoints.

Through private screens, citizens can access music, movies, and prohibited digital content. More importantly, smartphones have allowed Afghan women to maintain a shred of autonomy in a society designed to reduce them to property.

The Tribal Lens: While the Taliban claims its decrees are rooted in Sharia law, Islamic scholars globally note that their social codes are entirely tribal, shaped by a specific geography and patriarchal culture. By affixing the label of religion to tribal decrees, the Taliban treats women not as human beings, but as possessions. In their worldview, an "ideal woman" is silent, submissive, confined strictly to the four walls of her home, and stripped of independent identity.

4. Global Silence and Outrage Fatigue

In response to these mounting atrocities, the Permanent People’s Tribunal for Women of Afghanistan in The Hague ruled that the Taliban is actively committing crimes against humanity, characterizing their actions as a "coordinated, State-level campaign to erase women from public life." UN Special Rapporteurs have gone further, documenting the crisis as a form of "femi-genocide."

Yet, the international political response has remained largely toothless. While Afghanistan's permanent representative to the UN, Naseer Ahmad Faiq, directly condemned the regime's draconian measures on the floor of the UN Security Council, a massive, formal resolution from Western capitals remains noticeably absent.

This relative silence stems from a delicate diplomatic deadlock. The UN's primary focus in Afghanistan is delivering humanitarian aid to a population where two-thirds depend on assistance to survive. Issuing aggressive political sanctions risks causing the Taliban to completely shut down aid operations, which would instantly trigger nationwide famine. Combined with international "outrage fatigue," the world has largely normalized the structural injustice gridlocking the country.

5. Conclusion: An Echo of the 1990s

As the Taliban leadership doubles down on its ideological purity, the smartphone has emerged as its primary domestic adversary because it remains the last line of defense against absolute isolation.

Ultimately, this multi-layered siege reads like a dark repetition of the 1990s. During their first period of rule, the extremist group completely criminalized television, video cassettes, and music. Back then, the Taliban's morality police routinely raided homes, smashed electronics, and famously hanged confiscated television sets and unspooled VHS tapes from fences and trees as public warnings to the population.

Thirty years later, the technology has evolved from cathode-ray tubes to pocket-sized smartphones, but the regime’s fundamental terror of the outside world—and its brutal, tribal methods of suppression—remain entirely unchanged. The world cannot afford to remain silent as an illegitimate regime attempts to plunge an entire nation back into informational, cultural, and social darkness.