ICC Unseals Arrest Warrants for Four Senior Taliban Leaders Over Alleged Gender-Based Persecution

October 5, 2026 | WAR MONITOR

The International Criminal Court (ICC) on Monday unsealed four arrest warrants against senior Taliban leaders in connection with alleged crimes against humanity involving gender-based persecution in Afghanistan.

The warrants concern Taliban Supreme Leader Haibatullah Akhundzada, Chief Justice Abdul Hakim Haqqani, Education Minister Habibullah Agha, and Higher Education Minister Neda Mohammad Nadim. The ICC said there are reasonable grounds to believe the four bear criminal responsibility for ordering, inducing or soliciting persecution targeting women, girls and others whom the court says were affected by or opposed Taliban policies concerning gender.

The warrants were not newly issued on October 5. Those concerning Akhundzada and Haqqani were issued on July 8, 2025, while warrants concerning Agha and Nadim were issued on September 9, 2025. The ICC’s latest decision formally unsealed all four warrants; the existence of the first two had already been made public in July 2025.

Taliban authorities have previously rejected international criticism and allegations concerning their policies toward women and girls, maintaining that their governance and social policies are based on their interpretation of Islamic law and Afghanistan’s domestic affairs. As of publication, no formal response from the Taliban authorities to the ICC’s latest decision to unseal the four warrants had been identified.
The arrest warrants do not constitute convictions. They reflect the ICC judges’ finding that reasonable grounds exist at this stage to seek the suspects’ arrest and appearance before the court.

X: https://x.com/warmonitorpakaf

Telegram: https://t.me/war_monitor10