The United Nations has warned that Afghanistan continues to face serious humanitarian, economic, security and human rights challenges, despite the Islamic Emirate (IEA) maintaining overall territorial and administrative control.

In its latest report, covering 22 May to 9 September 2026, the UN said relative stability masked growing risks, including human rights concerns, economic pressures, humanitarian needs and tensions with Pakistan.

The report said IEA policies continued to raise concerns over the rights of women and girls, restrictions affecting men and women, arrests of journalists, reported violations of the general amnesty and the continued use of corporal punishment.

Between 1 May and 31 July, the UN recorded 2,947 safety and security-related incidents, an 11 percent increase compared with the same period in 2025. Armed opposition groups claimed responsibility for 88 incidents across 21 provinces, of which 55 were verified.

The attacks mainly involved ambushes and assaults on checkpoints targeting IEA personnel and military facilities.

The UN also reported a suicide bombing outside a boys’ school in Kabul on 5 June, although no group claimed responsibility.

In Badakhshan, the Homeland Soldiers Front briefly seized administrative buildings in Yaftal-e Payin District on 17 July before withdrawing.

On 24 July, the Afghanistan Freedom Front attacked a security checkpoint in Zaybak District, but the IEA reportedly repelled the attack and retained control.

The Afghanistan-Pakistan frontier remained volatile, with drone activity, airstrikes, shelling and clashes reported on both sides.

The UN documented 399 civilian casualties in Afghanistan between 1 April and 30 June, including 57 deaths and 342 injuries.

Pakistani airstrikes on 28 June in Kunar, Paktika and Paktiya were reported to have killed 28 civilians and injured 189.

Pakistan said the strikes targeted terrorist hideouts, while the IEA rejected the allegations.

On 30 June, the IEA Ministry of Defence announced retaliatory drone attacks against alleged ISIL-K (Daesh) and anti-IEA group locations in Pakistan.

Pakistani authorities confirmed that drones had crossed into Pakistani territory and said they were intercepted.

The UN also reported that ISIL-K claimed an attack on a military checkpoint in Nuristan on 30 June, while an IEA official was killed near Faizabad in Badakhshan on 29 July.

Humanitarian pressure

The humanitarian response remained severely underfunded, the UN reported stating that the 2026 Afghanistan Humanitarian Needs and Response Plan had received $513 million of the $1.7 billion required, leaving it 29.9 percent funded.

The UN projected that 13.8 million people would face crisis or emergency levels of food insecurity in 2026, while 3.7 million children under five and 1.2 million pregnant and breastfeeding women were projected to face acute malnutrition.

Nearly 1.15 million Afghans returned between 1 January and 22 August, including 686,200 from Pakistan and 465,000 from Iran. The UN said a large share of the returns were involuntary, placing additional pressure on labour markets and communities.

The report also noted that an estimated 2.4 million Afghan girls were systematically excluded from secondary education, according to UNESCO.

A UNICEF study estimated that restrictions on women’s education and labour-force participation cost Afghanistan at least $84 million annually.

Regional engagement

Despite the challenges, Afghanistan continued regional economic and diplomatic engagement.

Afghan and Uzbek traders signed 22 trade agreements worth $200 million, while Uzbekistan agreed to simplify visa procedures for Afghan patients seeking medical treatment.

Afghanistan also held discussions with Turkmenistan, Iran and India on energy, bilateral cooperation and agriculture.

Turkmenistan reported that construction of the Turkmenistan-Afghanistan-Pakistan-India (TAPI) pipeline had reached 67 percent completion.

UN Secretary-General António Guterres called on the IEA to remove restrictions affecting women and girls, protect media freedom, respect due process and detainee rights, prevent violations of the general amnesty and end corporal punishment.

He also urged all parties involved in Afghanistan-Pakistan hostilities to protect civilians and comply with international law, while calling for returns to Afghanistan to be voluntary, safe, dignified and supported by sustainable reintegration.