ICC unseals arrest warrants against four senior Ta...

Summary

• ISLAMABAD/THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over alleged persecution of women, girls and other people under the group’s gender policies in Afghanistan.
• The alleged persecution was carried out on gender grounds against girls, women and other individuals considered by the Taliban to be inconsistent with its policies concerning gender, gender identity or expression.
• The unsealing of the warrants places renewed international attention on the rights and freedoms of Afghan women and girls and marks another significant development in efforts to establish legal accountability for alleged persecution under Taliban rule.

AI Generated Summary

ISLAMABAD/THE HAGUE: The International Criminal Court (ICC) has unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban figures over alleged persecution of women, girls and other people under the group’s gender policies in Afghanistan.

ICC Pre-Trial Chamber II announced on October 5, 2026, that it had unsealed warrants issued against Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Education Minister Habibullah Agha and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim. The warrants were originally issued in July and September 2025 but had remained sealed.

According to the court, there are reasonable grounds to believe that the four suspects are criminally responsible for ordering, inducing or soliciting persecution as a crime against humanity under Article 7(1)(h) of the Rome Statute.