UN News Today 26 February 2026 |

Afghanistan-Pakistan tensions: UN Human Rights chief urges talks 

Human rights chief Volker Türk on Thursday appealed for “urgent political dialogue” between Afghanistan and Pakistan amid border clashes and deadly airstrikes.

He stressed the need for talks “rather than escalating the use of force” after a sharp increase in civilian casualties in cross-border clashes with the Pakistani military that has been reportedly targeting armed militants sheltering in Afghanistan. 

According to the UN Mission in Afghanistan, UNAMA, the violence killed 70 civilians in the last three months of 2025 and injured hundreds more. 

Another 13 civilians were killed this week following airstrikes by Pakistani forces, Mr. Türk said. 

The High Commissioner also condemned the increasing segregation of women and girls in Afghanistan which he likened to apartheid:

“The de facto authorities have in effect criminalized the presence of women and girls in public life. They are banned from secondary education and above, and from most employment. Discrimination affects their health care, their access to civic space, and their freedom of movement and expression.”

The latest series of Taliban decrees issued since the group overran Kabul in 2021 increases the number of crimes punishable by death and legalises the domestic abuse of women and children.

Sudan: Genocidal acts set to continue unless war ends, says rights probe

To Sudan, where there’s a grave and ongoing risk of further genocidal violence the longer the war goes on, the Human Rights Council heard on Thursday.

Fighting continues to consume the east African nation and threaten civilians, nearly three years since it erupted between the national army and paramilitaries.

In an update, investigators appointed by the Council highlighted the systematic killing of civilians last October across the city of El Fasher, capital of Northern Darfur state.

Chair of the Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for the Sudan, Mohamed Chande Othman, said that more than 460 people were probably killed at El-Saudi Hospital alone, including patients, doctors and wounded people:

“Videos recorded and circulated by perpetrators show executions accompanied by ethnic slurs. Survivors recount statements such as, ‘Is there anyone Zaghawa among you? If we find Zaghawa, we will kill them all,’ and, ‘We want to eliminate anything black from Darfur.’ ”

Latest UN human rights office data indicates that at least 11,300 civilians were killed in the conflict last year. 

Gaza suffering enormous, Türk tells Human Rights Council

Staying with the Human Rights Council, where UN rights chief Volker Türk also highlighted widespread suffering and death across Gaza.

Citing a new report from his Office on the Occupied Palestinian Territory covering the 12 months to 31 October 2025, he said that Israel had “continued attacks on residential buildings and makeshift tents, destroying entire neighbourhoods”.

Echoing those concerns, independent human rights expert Francesca Albanese highlighted the “catastrophic” situation facing Gazans today.

The Special Rapporteur said that families “survive in flooded tents while people continue to die from gunfire, hunger and preventable diseases”, despite a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israeli forces.

Ms. Albanese – who does not work for the UN and reports to the Human Rights Council – was speaking in Geneva alongside other independent experts, who condemned repeated attempts to undermine their work for the Council’s “Special Procedures” mandates.

Special Rapporteur on Afghanistan, Richard Bennett, rejected calls for Ms. Albanese to resign – including from the French foreign minister – criticising “personal vendettas” against independent experts, following the recent publication of an online video misrepresenting her comments about Israel.

Special Rapporteurs and other independent human rights experts are not UN staff and they are not paid for their work. Human rights is one of the fundamental pillars of the United Nations, along with peace, security and development.

Daniel Johnson, UN News