What the Taliban are doing in 2026 is no different from what occurred in the 1500s in England when citizens used the new technology of that era, printing presses, to produce and distribute news free from state control. zantimes.com/2026/08/04/t...
Zan Times
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A women-led newsroom reporting on the human rights situation, women and the LGBTQ community in Afghanistan. Sign up to stay informed: http://Zantimes.com/newsletter
"If a woman sees herself only as a victim, she can never survive in an oppressive society. An Afghan woman has to be a hero in order to attend school, work, and make choices for herself in such a society." Read the full interview: zantimes.com/2026/07/30/a...
On July 20, a flash flood tore through Parun, the capital of Nuristan province in Afghanistan. It happened so fast that people didn't have time to run. A woman from Parun tells Zan Times what it was like to survive the flood that killed 40 people. zantimes.com/2026/07/28/t...
Inside the deadly collapse of maternity care in Afghanistan Read the full report: zantimes.com/2026/07/23/i...
Amid USAID cuts and Taliban restrictions, we find clinics closing, midwives disappearing, and women dying Read the full report: zantimes.com/2026/07/23/i...
After Pakistan announced a July 10 deportation deadline for Afghan refugees, arrests in Quetta surged. Police patrols, ID checks, and street arrests have left thousands of Afghan refugees living in constant fear. Read the full story: zantimes.com/2026/07/20/h...
Sabza, 44, sold her now seven-year-old daughter when the child was three, for a debt of 300,000 afghani (about £3,570), after returning from Pakistan to find nothing to eat. She is now distraught that her daughter will be taken within a year. zantimes.com/2026/07/15/w...
"This is no longer simply an education crisis. It is a systematic restructuring of girlhood itself." Dr. Amna Mehmood explains how the Taliban's policies are designed to control women from adolescence onward. zantimes.com/2026/07/13/f...
Denied a bus ticket, threatened at a Taliban checkpoint, and refused a routine government document—all because she had no male guardian. zantimes.com/2026/07/08/w...
We chose a dangerous smuggling route to Pakistan so my sister could go to school zantimes.com/2026/07/01/w...
Can an Afghan woman get a divorce under the Taliban law? youtube.com/shorts/KX8sV...
Can an Afghan woman get a divorce under the Taliban law?
YouTube video by Zan Times
youtube.com
"If I go back to Afghanistan, all that's waiting for me is death." While the EU hosts Taliban delegations in Brussels for "technical talks," the vulnerable Afghans they promised to protect are being left behind. zantimes.com/2026/06/24/t...
The EU hosts the Taliban while refugees promised protection are left behind
Munira, a 26-year-old transgender woman, has been living in a Pakistani shelter for LGBTQ+ people since 2023. She says that Germany rejected her asylum case without giving a credible reason in January...
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Under the Taliban’s new marriage law, Afghan women trapped in abusive marriages face a cruel reality: the only narrow path to a divorce is often paying exorbitant sums to the very men abusing them. zantimes.com/2026/06/23/t...
During the war in Iran, Afghan migrants suffered the most. Most of us were suddenly unemployed as our jobs were stopped or suspended. zantimes.com/2026/06/22/w...
The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. zantimes.com/2026/06/18/t...
‘We have been buried alive:’ Herat woman describes Taliban’s hijab crackdown zantimes.com/2026/06/17/w...
On June 5, Taliban officials used the conclusion of Friday prayers to broadcast a public announcement across Herat: women who failed to comply with the Islamic dress code would be arrested. By June 6, dozens of women had been detained. zantimes.com/2026/06/15/w...
This week the Taliban began a new campaign of arresting women in Herat, western Afghanistan over Hijab violations. On June 9, in response, a group of women and men took to the streets of Herat to protest. The Taliban used gunshots and batons to disperse the crowd. youtube.com/shorts/NIPpM...
Taliban open fire on women’s protest in Herat, Afghanistan
YouTube video by Zan Times
youtube.com
My marriage was a response to social pressure and an attempt to hide my real identity and the differences that I had no role in choosing. It was never designed to allow me to build a life and find happiness. zantimes.com/2026/06/08/a...
At 16, Mehria fears being forced to marry a man her father's age. After losing access to education, she says her disability has become a source of shame and pressure within her family. zantimes.com/2026/06/02/w...
We are honoured to share that Zan Times has been shortlisted for the 2026 IPI-IMS Free Media Pioneer Award. ipi.media/11-trailblaz...
In the darkest times, Afghan women still find ways to create moments of joy, wear their traditional clothes, and keep hope alive. Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating youtube.com/shorts/qKYKR...
Afghan Women celebrate Eid despite Taliban restrictions
YouTube video by Zan Times
youtube.com
The Taliban’s Islamic Emirate has launched another legal offensive against women’s human dignity: its new “Code on Judicial Separation of Spouses.” zantimes.com/2026/05/26/t...
My name is Anqi. I am an editor at a book publishing company in China and I am writing this piece to explain how a letter became a book, one that tells the stories of Afghan women to Chinese readers. zantimes.com/2026/05/18/h...
To be an Afghan refugee in Pakistan is to feel that control over your life has been taken from you. You cannot have a place where you can live in peace. You are fearful and anxious most days as you are afraid of a police raid. zantimes.com/2026/05/13/i...
An Afghan woman journalist detained with her children in a Pakistani refugee camp despite holding valid visas. Read her story: zantimes.com/2026/05/05/a...
On World Press Freedom Day, listen to Afghan women journalists reporting under gender apartheid. We spoke with 23 of them. Read their stories at zantimes.com and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.
On World Press Freedom Day, listen to Afghan women journalists reporting under gender apartheid. We spoke with 23 of them. Read their stories at zantimes.com and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter. youtube.com/shorts/4jPoV...
Listen to Afghan women journalists reporting under gender apartheid.
YouTube video by Zan Times
youtube.com
Ahead of #WPFD2026, a new investigation by Zan Times reveals the systematic erasure of women from Afghan media. Interviews with 23 women workers across 7 provinces expose a profession collapsing under Taliban threats, unpaid labor, and sexual coercion. zantimes.com/2026/05/01/t...
