The 2026 US Trafficking in Persons Report places Afghanistan on Tier 3, citing patterns of child soldier use by the Taliban and other armed groups alongside sexual slavery and widespread labour exploitation amid rights restrictions.

The United States Department of State’s 2026 Trafficking in Persons Report has again ranked Afghanistan in Tier 3, its lowest category, stating that Afghan ministries and public institutions under Taliban control do not fully meet minimum standards for eliminating human trafficking and are not making significant efforts to do so. 

The assessment, covering the period from April 2025 to March 2026, documents a clear pattern of the unlawful recruitment and use of child soldiers in both combat and support roles, as well as ongoing sexual slavery through the practice known as bacha bazi.

References to the Taliban in the report do not imply US recognition of the group as the government of Afghanistan. The findings underscore how conflict-related practices, economic collapse, and severe restrictions on women and girls continue to heighten vulnerabilities for children and other at-risk populations across the country.

Child Soldiers in Combat and Support Roles

According to the report, the Taliban and other armed groups unlawfully recruit and use children through force, fraud or coercion. The Taliban recruits children from schools in Afghanistan and Pakistan and enrolls them in jihadi madrassas that reportedly provide military training. Local Taliban members have previously falsified ages on identification documents to facilitate recruitment.

Groups such as ISIS-Khorasan (ISIS-K) and the National Resistance Front use child soldiers in direct hostilities, including planting and detonating improvised explosive devices, carrying weapons, conducting surveillance and guarding bases. The Taliban and ISIS-K also forcibly use child soldiers and imprison children associated with rival armed groups, some of whom may themselves be trafficking victims.

An international organisation secured the release of 58 children from Taliban ranks following engagement and supported their reintegration. The Taliban maintains a commission of senior members tasked with identifying and demobilising children from its forces. However, the State Department notes that the group did not implement effective measures to prevent the unlawful recruitment or use of children in combat or support roles during the reporting period.

Bacha Bazi and Sexual Exploitation Persist

The report identifies a pattern of sexual slavery through bacha bazi, in which boys are exploited by men for social and sexual entertainment. Victims are typically aged between 10 and 18; some are kidnapped or sold by impoverished families. Although the practice is officially banned, it continues, with observers reporting that Taliban members have been perpetrators in some cases. Cases have been documented involving the Taliban and nearly all armed groups.

Sex trafficking victims, including those subjected to bacha bazi, often do not report exploitation due to fear of punishment under Taliban interpretations of moral crimes and social stigma. The Taliban has not made meaningful efforts to protect victims or eliminate the practice.

Broader Trafficking Profile and Child Labour

Children form the majority of trafficking victims in Afghanistan. They are exploited in bonded labour, domestic servitude, carpet weaving, brick kilns, agriculture, construction, mining, begging, poppy cultivation, drug and weapons trafficking, and other sectors. Impoverished or heavily indebted families sometimes sell children to traffickers, force them into labour or begging, or marry underage daughters in exchange for dowry payments or as a means of leaving the country.

Restrictions on women’s and girls’ movement, education and employment have significantly increased their vulnerability to exploitation. Returnees from Iran and Pakistan – particularly women, girls and families associated with the pre-August 2021 government – as well as members of ethnic and religious minorities such as Hazara Shia and Ismaili Muslims, face heightened risks. Traffickers increasingly use social media for recruitment with false promises.

Afghan men, women and children who seek work abroad, primarily in Iran, Pakistan, Türkiye and Europe, are also vulnerable to forced labour or sex trafficking by intermediaries and employers. Fear of deportation discourages many refugees from reporting exploitation.

Limited Prosecution and Protection Efforts

The Taliban reported no investigations, prosecutions or convictions for trafficking offences during the reporting period and identified or provided services to no trafficking victims. Observers noted the arrest of 20 suspected traffickers in Nimroz province, but details were lacking and the cases likely involved other crimes. No investigations of Taliban members for alleged complicity were reported.

In January 2026 the Taliban introduced a new edict framed as a criminal code that prohibits trafficking and sets prison terms of one to three years. The State Department assesses that the edict does not clearly define human trafficking, that the penalties are not sufficiently stringent, and that certain provisions contain terminology implicitly recognising slavery-related concepts. Legal experts have raised concerns about unclear definitions, the conflation of trafficking with migrant smuggling, and reliance on confessions without safeguards against coercion.

Potential victims, including children found begging, were routinely detained without screening for trafficking indicators. Some child victims were placed in detention facilities with adults, where they faced physical and sexual abuse and conditions indicative of forced labour. Formal procedures for identifying and referring victims to protection services were absent. Restrictions on non-governmental organisations, including limits preventing Afghan women from working in most sectors, have further hindered victim services.

Prevention Gaps and International Context

Afghan ministries lacked an inter-agency task force or national action plan,the report says, adding that there were no reported efforts to regulate labour recruiters effectively or reduce demand for commercial sex acts. It says that a previous decree declaring trafficking illegal under Sharia and directing ministries to investigate and raise awareness was not implemented in a meaningful way.

These findings occur against a backdrop of broader human rights concerns documented by international bodies. The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for senior Taliban officials over the systematic persecution of women and girls, highlighting the continuum of rights restrictions that compound trafficking risks. United Nations reporting has also noted rising security incidents, humanitarian strain and the cumulative impact of policies limiting women’s participation in public life.

The Tier 3 ranking places Afghanistan among a small group of countries where governments or de facto authorities demonstrate a policy or pattern of trafficking or related exploitation, including the recruitment of child soldiers. The report emphasises that true progress requires concrete investigations, prosecutions, victim identification and protection measures that meet international minimum standards.