The Taliban government last year barred girls from attending secondary school, making Afghanistan the only country in the world where there is a ban on education.

Blinken was speaking before Congress where lawmakers from the rival Republican Party went on the offensive over the August 2021 US withdrawal from Afghanistan.

At least nine people were killed and 44 injured in northwest Pakistan, a Pakistani government official said, and hospitals in northern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province were put into a state of emergency overnight.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) has had its mandate extended by the Security Council for one year.

The number of Islamic schools has grown across Afghanistan since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, with teenage girls increasingly attending classes after they were banned from secondary schools.

In Afghanistan nine in 10 women will experience physical, sexual, or psychological violence from their partner, according to the UN's mission in the country.

Taliban authorities have effectively squeezed women out of public life since retaking power. Women have been removed from many government jobs or are paid a fraction of their former salary to stay at home.

Violence in Afghanistan dramatically dipped after the Taliban seized power in August 2021.

The Pentagon ended its near two-decade military presence in Afghanistan in 2021

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced new visa restrictions against the Taliban Wednesday in response to bans on employment and education for women in Afghanistan.

Afghanistan is facing one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with more than half of its 38 million population facing hunger and nearly four million children suffering from malnutrition.

Residents say they are unable to afford fuel to heat homes in temperatures well below freezing