Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers release 2 U.N. staff members more than a week after detaining them

Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers have released two United Nations staff members who they detained more than a week ago, the U.N. said Thursday, adding that the reason for the two men’s detention remains unclear.

The arrests were the latest in a series of detentions by Afghanistan’s Taliban authorities. Last week, the advocacy group Human Rights Watch said six staff members of a local organization working on women’s and children’s rights had been “forcibly disappeared” for more than a month.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said its two employees, who were detained in the western city of Herat on Aug. 9, were released Thursday morning and appeared to be in good health.

“UNAMA has not been formally notified of the reasons for their arrest and detention and continues to follow up with the de facto authorities,” the U.N. said in a statement, adding that it understood that the charges against the two had been dropped.

It said the organization was also following up “to ensure respect for the privileges and immunities of the United Nations, as well as the safety, security, and freedom of movement of United Nations and associated personnel throughout the country.”

Afghan authorities did not immediately comment on the U.N. staff members’ release.

The U.N. mission’s mandate from the U.N. Security Council includes promoting and supporting humanitarian assistance to the Afghan people, promoting human rights, equality for women and girls, inclusive governance and economic stability.

On Aug. 12, Human Rights Watch said six senior members from the Women and Children Legal Research Foundation were detained on July 18 after they were told to come to their office to retrieve laptops and phones confiscated during a raid on the organization’s offices about a month earlier.

It said authorities had not provided any information on the staffers’ whereabouts, and called for them to be allowed visits by family members and lawyers.

The six were still in custody on Thursday, HRW said.

The Taliban seized power in Afghanistan on Aug. 15, 2021, as U.S. and NATO forces withdrew from the country after two decades of war.

Shortly after, they barred girls from education beyond primary school and banned women from nearly all employment, effectively excluding women and girls from public life. They have also effectively condoned child marriage and have made domestic violence punishable only in cases in which a woman has suffered visible injuries or broken bones.

In June, at least 30 women were arrested in Herat for alleged infringements of the country’s draconian dress code for women, sparking a rare protest in the city which Taliban police violently suppressed, leaving at least one person dead.