Prominent women’s rights activist Maryam Maroof Arwin, founder of the Purple Saturdays Movement, has strongly condemned the recent mass arrests of young women in Kabul, warning of rising repression and fear under the Taliban’s rule.
Speaking to local media, Arwin revealed that over the past two days, dozens of young women have been detained by Taliban forces in multiple areas of Kabul; including Shahr-e Naw, Dasht-e Barchi, and Sar-e-Karez.
“Some of these young women have been transferred from local police stations to Camp Number 2, and later moved to Badam Bagh,” she said, expressing deep concern about their safety. “We are seriously worried about their condition and what might happen to them.”
Arwin stressed that many of the detainees were taken without cause, some directly off the streets, and that the campaign appears aimed at spreading fear among women and silencing them completely.
“This crackdown has triggered widespread panic. Women are locking themselves inside their homes again,” she said. “The Taliban are becoming more emboldened since Russia’s formal recognition of their regime. These repressive acts are growing in intensity.”
The Taliban have so far offered no justification for the arrests, and no information has been given to families of the detained women. Rights groups and Afghan citizens alike have expressed outrage over the renewed crackdown, which many describe as a return to the Taliban’s 90s-era oppression.
In recent days, Taliban enforcers from the so-called Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice carried out raids across 20-Metre Road, Barchi City Centre, and Rasalat Alley, arresting women even when they were reportedly observing Islamic dress codes.
Though Arwin’s statement stands on its own as a powerful warning, it comes just as the Afghanistan Freedom Front (AFF) declared that Taliban units involved in such actions would now be considered legitimate military targets. The AFF accused the regime of violating Afghan cultural, religious, and social values and vowed to hold those responsible accountable.
