2.5. Recent crime trends

Table of contents

2.5. Recent crime trends

No crime statistics are available in Afghanistan,754 and available reporting on armed crime ‘has not been sufficiently systematic to allow reliable estimates of the scale’, as reported by Saleem and Semple.755 Furthermore, the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) indicated that, according to journalists’ reports from Herat, Nangarhar, Faryab, and Bamyan provinces, crime was not allowed to be reported.756

Following the Taliban takeover, some sources suggested that crime levels increased.757 Freedom House noted that high levels of violent crime were reported across the country, including kidnappings and armed robberies,758 while USDOS noted that armed groups engaged in violent activities, such as threats, robberies, and kidnappings against civilians, medical and NGO workers and foreigners.759 Other sources also noted that de facto officials had been involved in violent crime against the population, including kidnapping for ransom,760 robberies, and crime under the pretext of house searches,761 while some robberies were allegedly committed by individuals dressed as Taliban or wearing de facto security-personnel uniforms.762

However, an Afghan analyst, who regularly visits Afghanistan to conduct field-based research, told the EUAA in October 2024 that the situation concerning violent crime had significantly improved, although it had not been completely supressed.763 By contrast, during 2025, some media outlets reported that violent crime, such as robberies, targeted killings and kidnappings, have increased in many parts of the country,764 including in Kabul City.765 Some of these sources attribute this rise to unemployment levels, lack of job opportunities, economic hardship and poverty,766 as well as to ‘weak law enforcement’.767 According to such media reports, some of these crimes targeted children.768 AW also reported on a de facto official allegedly being involved in the rape and subsequent killing of a teenage boy.769 Local media Khaama Press also noted a recent ‘string of robberies and murders’ in November 2025, creating ‘public concern over deteriorating security conditions’.770 In the period 1 November 2024–30 April 2025, the UN Secretary-General recorded 283 robbery incidents in total, with numbers marking an increase as compared with the respective same period in 2023–2024.771 During the first half of 2025, Rawadari documented at least 251 cases of people killed or injured ‘in targeted, mysterious, and extrajudicial killings’, including 20 women, and 12 children, noting a 30 % increase compared to the same period last year. Many incidents have been linked to Taliban members or unidentified individuals.772

The de facto authorities have reportedly carried out arrests for some incidents relating to violent crimes.773 However, according to Afghan media in exile, despite claims of combatting violent crime and provide security, the de facto authorities did not provide effective protection.774

  • 754

    Norway, Landinfo, Temanotat, Afghanistan, Situasjonen for afghanske menn, 20 January 2025, url, p. 8; International journalist, online interview, 3 October 2023

  • 755

    Saleem, M. A. and Semple, M., Peace Matrix for Afghanistan, PeaceRep, 11 November 2024, url, p. 27

  • 757

    UN General Assembly and UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 27 February 2023, url, para. 16; Business Standard, Crime rate rising in Afghanistan since Taliban takeover in August last year, 22 August 2022, url; International Crisis Group, Afghanistan’s Security Challenges under the Taliban, 12 August 2022, url, pp. 6, 17

  • 758

    Freedom House, Afghanistan: Freedom in the World 2024 Country Report, 2024, url

  • 759

    USDOS, 2023 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, url, p. 3; USDOS, 2022 Country Report on Human Rights Practices: Afghanistan, 20 March 2023, url, p. 3

  • 760

    Sharan, T., email, 27 November 2025

  • 761

    Saleem, M. A. and Semple, M., Peace Matrix for Afghanistan, PeaceRep, 11 November 2024, url, p. 27

  • 762

    Hasht-e Subh, Lives at Risk, Voices Silenced: Robbery and Murder Under Taliban Rule, 24 May 2025, url; Pajhwok News, 4 armed robbers detained in Kabul, 6 February 2025, url

  • 763

    Afghan analyst, online interview 1 October 2024. The interview was conducted by the EUAA in cooperation with the COI units at the Austrian Federal Office for Immigration and Asylum and the Swedish Migration Agency, as well as Landinfo – the Norwegian COI Centre

  • 764

    Khaama Press, Armed Robbers Kill Mother and Daughter in Logar Province, Afghanistan, 9 November 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Kabul Gripped by Insecurity: Armed Robberies in Taliban Uniforms Spark Growing Public Fear, 15 October 2025, url; Kabul Now, Two Teenagers Killed After Being Abducted in Helmand and Kandahar, 11 September 2025, url; Amu TV, Taliban say child rescued from kidnappers in Balkh, 13 July 2025, url

  • 765

    Hasht-e Subh, Kabul Gripped by Insecurity: Armed Robberies in Taliban Uniforms Spark Growing Public Fear, 15 October 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Lives at Risk, Voices Silenced: Robbery and Murder Under Taliban Rule, 24 May 2025, url

  • 766

    Kabul Now, Teenager Found Dead in Ghazni Amid Rising Violent Crime Across Afghanistan, 17 September 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Lives at Risk, Voices Silenced: Robbery and Murder Under Taliban Rule, 24 May 2025, url

  • 767

    Kabul Now, Teenager Found Dead in Ghazni Amid Rising Violent Crime Across Afghanistan, 17 September 2025, url

  • 768

    Kabul Now, Teenager Found Dead in Ghazni Amid Rising Violent Crime Across Afghanistan, 17 September 2025, url; Kabul Now, Missing Boy Found Dead in Eastern Afghanistan Amid Surge in Violent Crime, 10 September 2025, url; Amu TV, Taliban say child rescued from kidnappers in Balkh, 13 July 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Horrific Child Killings and Public Outrage: Taliban Remain Silent, 13 March 2025, url

  • 769

    CIR, Boy found dead after accusing Taliban members of sexual abuse, 9 October 2024, url

  • 770

    Khaama Press, Armed Robbers Kill Mother and Daughter in Logar Province, Afghanistan, 9 November 2025, url

  • 771

    UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 11 June 2025, url, para. 19; UN Security Council, The situation in Afghanistan and its implications for international peace and security, 21 February 2025, url, para. 18

  • 772

    Rawadari, Afghanistan Mid-Year Human Rights Situation Report: January-June 30, 2025, August 2025, url, p. 15

  • 773

    Khaama Press, Armed Robbers Kill Mother and Daughter in Logar Province, Afghanistan, 9 November 2025, url; Kabul Now, Teenager Found Dead in Ghazni Amid Rising Violent Crime Across Afghanistan, 17 September 2025, url; Pajhwok News, 4 armed robbers detained in Kabul, 6 February 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Amid Taliban Control, Takhar Residents Face Escalating Insecurity and Armed Crime, 9 October 2024, url

  • 774

    Khaama Press, Armed Robbers Kill Mother and Daughter in Logar Province, Afghanistan, 9 November 2025, url; Kabul Now, Missing Boy Found Dead in Eastern Afghanistan Amid Surge in Violent Crime, 10 September 2025, url; Hasht-e Subh, Amid Taliban Control, Takhar Residents Face Escalating Insecurity and Armed Crime, 9 October 2024, url; Pajhwok News, 7 killed, 5 wounded in Afghanistan last week, 10 March 2024, url