iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

"'In Afghanistan, I don't feel alive. It feels like a dark pit that we girls have fallen into.' For Afghan women forcibly deported from Iran and Pakistan, the return means losing everything: education, careers, and freedom. zantimes.com/2026/10/02/o...

022

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 29/09/2026

Despite interventions from a judge and Amnesty International, Islamabad police still refuse to register a case for missing Afghan journalist Qasim Hashimi, simply because he lacks a visa. zantimes.com/2026/09/29/a...

011

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 27/08/2026

The most painful part of my work at the school is seeing my students graduate from sixth grade. I ask myself: how many of them are still holding on to their dreams of education? How many have been forced into marriages they did not choose? zantimes.com/2026/08/27/t...

021

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 26/08/2026

“I want to be my own refuge. I want to stand on my own feet.” At 17, Marwa dreamed of being a heart surgeon. Now, under the Taliban's rule, she balances online classes, grueling clinic shifts as a dental assistant, and hiding from the morality police. zantimes.com/2026/08/26/t...

033

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 25/08/2026

Although this income does not cover our needs, I have no choice but to continue. My children’s hopes are tied to my tired hands. zantimes.com/2026/08/25/t...

031

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 24/08/2026

Sometimes, when I catch a glimpse of myself in the mirror during the day and see the colour of my face and my hair, I fall silent. I see how much I have truly changed over these past few years. Sometimes, I think the girl I see in the mirror is not me. zantimes.com/2026/08/24/t...

011

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 21/08/2026

My 13-year-old daughter has been at home for two years, and it breaks my heart. No one truly understands a mother’s fear zantimes.com/2026/08/21/t...

013

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 19/08/2026

My biggest worry is that I cannot do anything for my daughters’ education. I wanted my daughters to study and have a more informed and comfortable life. But what if they end up like me with a difficult life with very limited choices. zantimes.com/2026/08/19/t...

034

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 18/08/2026

Rifles alone won't save Afghanistan. The history of political struggles has shown that guns without thought and organization ultimately either reproduce tyranny or are neutralized. zantimes.com/2026/08/18/r...

064

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 17/08/2026

"Girls who are starting school for the first time are happy, energetic and full of dreams. Being around them gives me a sense of joy." 18 years ago, Sediqa* sat in a tent as a student. Today she teaches first-graders in that same school. zantimes.com/2026/08/17/a...

043

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 15/08/2026

Five years ago, I was a young woman on the threshold of independence. From a poor family, I dreamed of saving my own future and that of my family. Suddenly, the dark, cursed day that was August 15, 2021 arrived. The day that marked the end of me. zantimes.com/2026/08/15/i...

021

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 13/08/2026

The International Declaration on Gender Apartheid launches today to demand global accountability and support the fight against systemic oppression. “We refuse to let this anniversary belong to the Taliban.” zantimes.com/2026/08/13/l...

043

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 12/08/2026

Between news and danger: A day in the life of an undercover woman journalist in Afghanistan. "Taliban could use the city’s expanding network of security cameras to trace my movements and identify me." zantimes.com/2026/08/12/t...

021

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 11/08/2026

Every night she dreams she's still in uniform, heading to duty. Every morning she wakes up to a country that erased her. This is life for the policewomen the world left behind in Afghanistan. zantimes.com/2026/08/11/t...

032

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 10/08/2026

231 231 femicide: how Taliban rule ushered in a new era of women being killed A new investigation by Zan Times documents a devastating pattern of femicide in Afghanistan, where women are being killed in their own homes while perpetrators often escape accountability. zantimes.com/2026/08/07/h...

022

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

How Taliban rule ushered in a new era of women being killed zantimes.com/2026/08/07/h...

013

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 07/08/2026

An investigation into 231 femicide cases highlights the dire situation in Afghanistan, where men are empowered to murder and face no punishment while their crimes are covered up by the state Read the joint report by Zan Times and @theguardian.com: zantimes.com/2026/08/07/h...

044

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 04/08/2026

What the Taliban are doing in 2026 is no different from what occurred in the 1500s in England when citizens used the new technology of that era, printing presses, to produce and distribute news free from state control. zantimes.com/2026/08/04/t...

021

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 30/07/2026

"If a woman sees herself only as a victim, she can never survive in an oppressive society. An Afghan woman has to be a hero in order to attend school, work, and make choices for herself in such a society." Read the full interview: zantimes.com/2026/07/30/a...

111

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 28/07/2026

On July 20, a flash flood tore through Parun, the capital of Nuristan province in Afghanistan. It happened so fast that people didn't have time to run. A woman from Parun tells Zan Times what it was like to survive the flood that killed 40 people. zantimes.com/2026/07/28/t...

034

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 27/07/2026

Inside the deadly collapse of maternity care in Afghanistan Read the full report: zantimes.com/2026/07/23/i...

034

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 23/07/2026

Amid USAID cuts and Taliban restrictions, we find clinics closing, midwives disappearing, and women dying Read the full report: zantimes.com/2026/07/23/i...

022

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 20/07/2026

After Pakistan announced a July 10 deportation deadline for Afghan refugees, arrests in Quetta surged. Police patrols, ID checks, and street arrests have left thousands of Afghan refugees living in constant fear. Read the full story: zantimes.com/2026/07/20/h...

010

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 15/07/2026

Sabza, 44, sold her now seven-year-old daughter when the child was three, for a debt of 300,000 afghani (about £3,570), after returning from Pakistan to find nothing to eat. She is now distraught that her daughter will be taken within a year. zantimes.com/2026/07/15/w...

013

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 13/07/2026

"This is no longer simply an education crisis. It is a systematic restructuring of girlhood itself." Dr. Amna Mehmood explains how the Taliban's policies are designed to control women from adolescence onward. zantimes.com/2026/07/13/f...

011

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 08/07/2026

Denied a bus ticket, threatened at a Taliban checkpoint, and refused a routine government document—all because she had no male guardian. zantimes.com/2026/07/08/w...

023

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 01/07/2026

We chose a dangerous smuggling route to Pakistan so my sister could go to school zantimes.com/2026/07/01/w...

032

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 24/06/2026

"If I go back to Afghanistan, all that's waiting for me is death." While the EU hosts Taliban delegations in Brussels for "technical talks," the vulnerable Afghans they promised to protect are being left behind. zantimes.com/2026/06/24/t...

zantimes.com

The EU hosts the Taliban while refugees promised protection are left behind

Munira, a 26-year-old transgender woman, has been living in a Pakistani shelter for LGBTQ+ people since 2023. She says that Germany rejected her asylum case without giving a credible reason in January...

033

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 23/06/2026

Under the Taliban’s new marriage law, Afghan women trapped in abusive marriages face a cruel reality: the only narrow path to a divorce is often paying exorbitant sums to the very men abusing them. zantimes.com/2026/06/23/t...

055

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 22/06/2026

During the war in Iran, Afghan migrants suffered the most. Most of us were suddenly unemployed as our jobs were stopped or suspended. zantimes.com/2026/06/22/w...

041

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 18/06/2026

The Taliban have ordered a sweeping ban on the use of smartphones by government officials – in what some analysts say could foreshadow broader, population-level restrictions. zantimes.com/2026/06/18/t...

020

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 17/06/2026

‘We have been buried alive:’ Herat woman describes Taliban’s hijab crackdown zantimes.com/2026/06/17/w...

031

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 15/06/2026

On June 5, Taliban officials used the conclusion of Friday prayers to broadcast a public announcement across Herat: women who failed to comply with the Islamic dress code would be arrested. By June 6, dozens of women had been detained. zantimes.com/2026/06/15/w...

011

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 11/06/2026

What happened in Herat, western Afghanistan?

031

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 09/06/2026

This week the Taliban began a new campaign of arresting women in Herat, western Afghanistan over Hijab violations. On June 9, in response, a group of women and men took to the streets of Herat to protest. The Taliban used gunshots and batons to disperse the crowd. youtube.com/shorts/NIPpM...

youtube.com

Taliban open fire on women’s protest in Herat, Afghanistan

YouTube video by Zan Times

054

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 08/06/2026

My marriage was a response to social pressure and an attempt to hide my real identity and the differences that I had no role in choosing. It was never designed to allow me to build a life and find happiness. zantimes.com/2026/06/08/a...

032

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

At 16, Mehria fears being forced to marry a man her father's age. After losing access to education, she says her disability has become a source of shame and pressure within her family. zantimes.com/2026/06/02/w...

033

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 02/06/2026

We are honoured to share that Zan Times has been shortlisted for the 2026 IPI-IMS Free Media Pioneer Award. ipi.media/11-trailblaz...

110

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 28/05/2026

In the darkest times, Afghan women still find ways to create moments of joy, wear their traditional clothes, and keep hope alive. Eid Mubarak to all those celebrating youtube.com/shorts/qKYKR...

youtube.com

Afghan Women celebrate Eid despite Taliban restrictions

YouTube video by Zan Times

033

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 26/05/2026

The Taliban’s Islamic Emirate has launched another legal offensive against women’s human dignity: its new “Code on Judicial Separation of Spouses.” zantimes.com/2026/05/26/t...

021

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 18/05/2026

My name is Anqi. I am an editor at a book publishing company in China and I am writing this piece to explain how a letter became a book, one that tells the stories of Afghan women to Chinese readers. zantimes.com/2026/05/18/h...

001

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 13/05/2026

To be an Afghan refugee in Pakistan is to feel that control over your life has been taken from you. You cannot have a place where you can live in peace. You are fearful and anxious most days as you are afraid of a police raid. zantimes.com/2026/05/13/i...

051

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 05/05/2026

An Afghan woman journalist detained with her children in a Pakistani refugee camp despite holding valid visas. Read her story: zantimes.com/2026/05/05/a...

011

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

On World Press Freedom Day, listen to Afghan women journalists reporting under gender apartheid. We spoke with 23 of them. Read their stories at zantimes.com and subscribe to our free weekly newsletter.

036

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 04/05/2026

youtube.com

Listen to Afghan women journalists reporting under gender apartheid.

YouTube video by Zan Times

022

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 01/05/2026

Ahead of #WPFD2026, a new investigation by Zan Times reveals the systematic erasure of women from Afghan media. Interviews with 23 women workers across 7 provinces expose a profession collapsing under Taliban threats, unpaid labor, and sexual coercion. zantimes.com/2026/05/01/t...

031

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 29/04/2026

Zan Times' managing editor was arrested in Pakistan zantimes.com/2026/04/29/p...

014

Zan Times @zantimes.bsky.social · 21/04/2026

The recent massacre of Shia civilians in Herat is the latest tragedy exposing the reality of security under the Taliban. zantimes.com/2026/04/21/t...

011