KABUL
\nThe United Nations has demanded the Taliban provide information on two more women activists allegedly detained by the group this week \u2014 bringing to four the number missing in Afghanistan this year.
\nSince their August return to power, the Taliban have cracked down on dissent by forcefully dispersing women\u2019s rallies, detaining critics and beating local journalists covering protests.
\nThe United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said late Thursday it had sought \u201curgent information\u201d on the reported detention of two more women activists by the Taliban in the capital Kabul this week.
\n\u201cUN repeats its call for all \u2018disappeared\u2019 women activists & relatives to be released,\u201d it said on Twitter.
\nUS special envoy to Afghanistan Rina Amiri also called on the Taliban to respect women\u2019s rights.
\n\u201cIf the Taliban seek legitimacy from the Afghan people & the world, they must respect Afghans\u2019 human rights \u2014 especially for women,\u201d she said on Twitter.<\/p>\n
UNAMA did not reveal the names of the two women activists gone missing this week, but another rights advocate said that Zahra Mohammadi and Mursal Ayar had been arrested by the Taliban.<\/p>\n
\u201cZahra, a dentist, used to work in a clinic. She has been arrested,\u201d the activist said, on condition of anonymity.<\/p>\n
Ayar was arrested on Wednesday after a male colleague asked for her address so he could come to hand over her salary, the activist said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s how she was trapped. The Taliban found her and arrested her,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
She said Ayar\u2019s father had also been arrested, after mistakenly identifying Mohammadi\u2019s father as the man detained in an earlier interview.<\/p>\n
The latest detentions come less than a month after activists Tamana Zaryabi Paryani and Parwana Ibrahimkhel went missing after participating in a Kabul protest.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
KABUL The United Nations has demanded the Taliban provide information on two more women activists allegedly detained by the group this week \u2014 bringing to four the number missing in Afghanistan this year. Since their August return to power, the Taliban have cracked down on dissent by forcefully dispersing women\u2019s rallies, detaining critics and beating […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-242811","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n