Date: 01/03/1404 Sources from the United Nations office in Kabul told Afghanistan International that Taliban affiliates have been chasing female employees of the organization and threatening them with death in the past two days. They have warned the men of the employees' families to prevent their daughters and wives from going to work, or they will be killed. At least three UN sources in Kabul reported to Afghanistan International that Taliban gunmen targeted, stalked, threatened and intimidated a large number of Afghan female UN staff in Kabul on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week. In some cases, armed men have entered employees' homes and threatened the female employee's father, husband or brother with weapons to prevent her from continuing her work, a staff member said. According to him, the Taliban have told a number of the fathers of these employees that "if your daughter goes to work again, she will be killed. The threats were said to have been accompanied by insults, filming, and humiliation of family members. According to the information, these threats were mainly directed at female staff in the offices of UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, UNAMA, the United Nations Population Fund and the World Health Organization. Sources say that the pursuit of employees started around the UN headquarters in Pul-e-Charkhi and then spread to employees' homes in different parts of the city, including Makroorian, Karte Chahar, Darulaman, Khairkhaneh, Karte-e-Naw, Arzanqar, Kotesangi and other places. As a result of this atmosphere of intimidation, UN offices have asked their local female staff to work from home until further notice. But two days later, no official explanation or assurance has been given to the staff by the UN offices. This is the first time that the Taliban's threat has gone beyond the level of pressure and has turned into an explicit threat of murder. In December 2022, the Taliban announced a ban on women's work in a decree issued by the group's leader, Haibatullah. At the time, female UN staff were ordered to work from home, but were recalled back to their offices after two weeks to continue working. The Taliban had not yet taken action to ban women's work, except in Kandahar and Nangarhar, and female employees, especially in Kabul, were freely going to their offices. The staff of these offices say that this critical situation requires an urgent response from the international community and human rights organizations to defend their security, dignity and right to work.

The stalking, armed intimidation, and explicit death threats against Afghan female UN staff by affiliates of the Taliban in Kabul constitute an escalation from coercive pressure to credible threats of lethal violence. by targeting women at UN offices and in their homes—and threatening male relatives to enforce compliance—the Taliban employ terror to enforce the ban on women’s work and dismantle humanitarian operations, prompting forced work-from-home measures.