Islamabad Conference Raises Governance, Rights and Security Concerns After Five Years of Taliban Rule
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — WEB DESK: Policy experts and regional analysts meeting in Islamabad have raised concerns over Afghanistan’s governance, restrictions on women and continuing militant threats five years after the Taliban returned to power, arguing that Kabul has yet to address key demands from Afghans and the international community.
The roundtable, titled “Five Years of Taliban Rule in Afghanistan: Trajectory, Challenges, and the Road Ahead,” was organised by the Institute of Regional Studies in collaboration with South Asia Times. It brought together policy experts, analysts and journalists to examine Afghanistan’s political, economic and security trajectory since August 2021.
The Express report described the conference conclusions in strongly critical terms, saying participants viewed the Taliban administration as having failed to establish inclusive governance, protect fundamental rights or sufficiently address regional security concerns. It also reported criticism of the Taliban’s consultative system and its treatment of women.
Those conclusions should, however, be presented as the assessment of conference participants, rather than as independently established findings covering every aspect of Taliban rule.
Five Years Since Taliban Returned to Kabul
The Taliban returned to power on August 15, 2021, when their forces entered Kabul as the internationally backed Afghan government collapsed during the final phase of the US-led military withdrawal.
Five years later, the Taliban have consolidated control over most state institutions and have sought to portray Afghanistan as more secure and politically stable than during the previous two decades of war. But their administration remains internationally isolated, with Russia the only country to have formally recognised the Taliban government as of the fifth anniversary.
The Islamabad discussion examined that gap between the Taliban’s claims of political stability and concerns over legitimacy, governance, human rights, economic conditions and security.
Conference Criticises Lack of Inclusive Governance
According to the Express report, the conference declaration argued that the Taliban had not fulfilled earlier expectations of establishing a more inclusive political system.
Participants said Afghanistan’s governing structure remained concentrated and criticised what they described as weaknesses in the consultative Shura system.
The Taliban, by contrast, maintain that their administration represents Afghanistan under an Islamic system and have repeatedly defended their governance model as an internal Afghan matter.
The conference’s judgment that the government has “failed” should therefore remain clearly attributed to participants rather than being presented in straight news copy as an uncontested factual conclusion.
Women’s Rights Remain Major International Concern
One of the conference’s strongest areas of criticism concerned the treatment of Afghan women and girls.
Unlike some of the broader political claims made at the meeting, extensive restrictions on women are independently documented by the United Nations.
UN Women said ahead of the fifth anniversary that the Taliban authorities had issued more than 100 decrees targeting women and girls since returning to power, restricting education, employment, movement, public participation and legal equality.
Afghanistan remains the only country where girls and women are barred from secondary and higher education on such a nationwide basis.
UNESCO estimated that 2.4 million girls had been excluded from secondary education by 2026, while UNICEF put the number denied secondary education over the five-year period at more than 2.6 million. The figures reflect somewhat different methodologies and reference points, so they should not be treated as contradictory without context.
Women have also faced restrictions on employment and access to public spaces.
UN Women said that among 3,200 Afghan women it surveyed, more than half reported leaving their homes only once or twice a month, while nearly three-quarters said they felt unsafe going outside without a male guardian.
These independently documented restrictions support the conference’s broader concern over women’s rights, although individual political characterisations in the conference statement remain the participants’ views.
Humanitarian Pressures Persist
Afghanistan also continues to face substantial humanitarian and economic pressures.
Reuters reported on the fifth anniversary that the number of people requiring humanitarian assistance had increased by about 3.5 million since 2021, with aid agencies pointing to economic hardship, natural disasters, forced returns from neighbouring countries and reductions in international assistance.
The picture is not one of complete economic paralysis, however.
The United Nations reported that international programmes continued delivering substantial healthcare, education, livelihood and employment assistance during 2025. More than 34 million people received healthcare services, according to the UN’s 2025 Afghanistan results report, while around 45,000 long-term jobs were created through supported programmes.
That context matters because the Express source describes the economic record simply as a failure. A publication-ready international report should distinguish severe humanitarian and employment pressures from the broader claim that every economic indicator has deteriorated.
Pakistan Focuses on Cross-Border Militancy
Security was another major theme of the Islamabad discussion.
Experts argued that Pakistan’s central expectation from the authorities in Kabul remains that Afghan territory should not be used by militant organisations to launch attacks against Pakistan.
Relations between Islamabad and Kabul have deteriorated sharply over this issue.
Pakistan has repeatedly accused the Afghan Taliban authorities of failing to prevent the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) from operating from Afghan territory. Kabul has rejected or disputed Pakistan’s allegations and says Afghanistan should not be blamed for Pakistan’s internal security problems.
The conference also referred to the presence of Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISIS-K) and other militant organisations in Afghanistan.
ISIS-K’s continuing ability to conduct attacks is independently documented. Reuters noted that security concerns persisted around the fifth anniversary, including assassinations claimed by Islamic State.
Claims About Specific Militant Groups Need Caution
The Express report goes further by saying the conference declaration listed the TTP, ISIS-K, Balochistan Liberation Army (BLA) and other militant groups as continuing to operate in Afghanistan.
That formulation requires careful attribution.
The presence and operational freedom of particular groups — especially claims about specific organisations maintaining bases or receiving support — can be politically contested and should not be stated as independently proven solely because they appeared in a conference declaration.
For publication, the accurate approach is to report that conference participants raised concerns about these groups, while separately noting independently documented regional concerns over TTP and ISIS-K activity.
Claims of Divisions Within Taliban Also Require Attribution
The conference statement also alleged growing ideological and political tensions between Taliban power centres in Kabul and Kandahar.
Analysts have long examined differences within the Taliban leadership over issues including women’s education, diplomatic engagement and the concentration of decision-making authority.
However, claims that these disagreements amount to an accelerating internal rupture cannot be independently established from the conference statement alone.
They should therefore be described as an assessment by analysts and conference participants, not as confirmation that the Taliban leadership is splitting.
Armed Opposition Has Not Disappeared
The Islamabad conference also highlighted activity by armed groups opposed to Taliban rule.
The Express report said participants believed anti-Taliban resistance organisations had expanded operations from northern Afghanistan into other parts of the country, including attacks targeting Taliban personnel.
Independent reporting and UN monitoring have documented continuing armed opposition to the Taliban, although the scale, territorial reach and casualty claims made by resistance organisations can be difficult to verify.
An analysis published by South Asia Times cited UN documentation of 277 armed attacks against the Taliban between August 2024 and July 2025, while also citing substantially larger operational claims made by resistance organisations themselves.
The distinction is important: claims issued by armed opposition groups should not automatically be treated as independently confirmed battlefield data.
Taliban Point to Stability and Control
A balanced assessment also requires the Taliban government’s position.
On the fifth anniversary of their return to power, Taliban leaders portrayed their administration as having restored sovereignty and strengthened security following decades of foreign intervention and conflict. Public celebrations were held in Kabul as officials sought to demonstrate political control.
The Taliban have also pursued diplomatic relations with regional states despite limited formal recognition.
Their officials reject much of the international criticism of their domestic policies and say Afghanistan should be allowed to govern according to Islamic principles without foreign interference.
This does not negate documented restrictions on women or regional security concerns, but it is necessary context when reporting a conference whose conclusions were overwhelmingly critical of the Taliban.
Afghanistan Remains Regionally Significant
Five years after the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan presents a mixed but deeply challenging picture.
The Taliban maintain effective nationwide political control and have survived predictions that their administration would quickly collapse. At the same time, they remain internationally isolated, face continuing militant and armed-opposition threats and have imposed restrictions on women that UN agencies describe as unparalleled in the modern world.
Humanitarian pressures remain severe, while relations with neighbouring Pakistan have been damaged by disputes over cross-border militancy.
The Islamabad conference’s sweeping conclusion that the Taliban have failed “on every front” is therefore best treated as the judgment of its participants.
What is independently established is narrower but still significant: five years after the Taliban returned to Kabul, Afghanistan continues to face profound challenges involving women’s rights, humanitarian needs, international recognition, political inclusion and regional security.
