KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – The United Nations recorded 3,687 safety and security incidents in Afghanistan from February 1 to April 30, 2026, a 57.7% increase compared with the same period a year earlier, according to a new report by Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
The quarterly report, issued pursuant to a 2023 Security Council resolution requesting regular updates on Afghanistan and the work of the UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), was made public on Monday. It identified cross-border clashes with Pakistan, attacks by armed opposition groups, and other violence as key drivers of the rise in incidents.
The report said armed opposition groups, including the Afghanistan Freedom Front, National Resistance Front, National Mobilization Front, and Afghanistan Green Trend movement, claimed responsibility for 18 attacks in 10 provinces during the reporting period. 16 of those incidents were verified by the UN.
The attacks, which included rocket strikes, grenade attacks, and shootings targeting Taliban checkpoints and security convoys, occurred in Badakhshan, Baghlan, Herat, Kabul, Kandahar, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Panjshir, and Zabul provinces.
Despite the attacks, the report said the groups did not pose a significant challenge to Taliban control of national territory.
The report noted that the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) claimed no major attacks during the period. However, the U.N. Security Council’s Analytical Support and Sanctions Monitoring Team assessed that the group continues to retain operational and combat capabilities.
The report also highlighted an attack on April 10 in Herat province, where unidentified gunmen riding motorcycles opened fire on civilians gathered near the Sayed Mohammad Agha shrine in Injil district, a predominantly Shi’ite area. 11 civilians were killed and 11 others wounded. No group claimed responsibility.
Cross-border clashes with Pakistan were a major driver of casualties. UNAMA documented 764 civilian casualties (372 killed and 392 injured) between January 26 and March 31, mostly from air strikes and indirect fire. The deadliest incident was a Pakistani air strike on March 16 that hit the Omid Drug Rehabilitation Hospital in Kabul, killing at least 269 people and injuring 122, primarily patients. On April 27, cross-border shelling in Kunar province caused at least 88 civilian casualties, including 7 killed and 81 wounded, many of them students and professors at a local university.
The report recorded 92 safety and security incidents directly affecting UN personnel, up from 62 in the comparable period the previous year.
Guterres also reported continued human rights violations against former Afghan government officials and members of the former security forces despite the Taliban’s declared general amnesty. Between Jan. 26 and Mar. 31, UNAMA documented at least five killings, 20 cases of arbitrary arrest and detention, and eight cases of torture or ill-treatment.
The report further said that Taliban authorities continued to carry out public corporal punishment. UNAMA recorded 228 cases involving 29 women, 196 men, and three boys punished for offences including adultery, running away from home, homosexuality, alcohol consumption, and gambling.
The report also notes the fifth consecutive year of the ban on girls’ education beyond sixth grade and continued restrictions on Afghan women, including UN national female staff barred from accessing UN premises.
