They are suspected of crimes against human rights – more specifically persecution of women.
"While the Taliban have introduced certain rules and prohibitions for the population as a whole, they have specifically targeted girls and women because of their gender and deprived them of fundamental freedoms and rights", the court writes in a statement.
According to the ICC, the alleged crimes are said to have been committed from 2021 – when the Taliban came to power in Afghanistan – to at least January 2025.
The Taliban leaders are accused by the ICC, among other things, of having taken away from girls and women the right to education, integrity, freedom of expression and religion.
