Nobel Peace Prize laureate Malala Yousafzai quoted Afghan human rights activists as saying that "the Taliban's cruelty and extreme oppression of Afghan women" is an example of gender apartheid.

She called on governments, especially Muslim countries, to go beyond verbal sympathy to hold the Taliban accountable.

Twelve years ago, on October 9, the Pakistani Taliban severely wounded Malala Yousafzai, who was campaigning for girls' right to education in Pakistan's tribal areas.

On Thursday, Yousafzai recalled the incident in a post on her social media platform X and criticised the Taliban's policies towards Afghan women, which, like their counterparts in Pakistan, have deprived Afghan women and girls of education.

The Afghan Taliban "have been aiming their guns at Afghan girls and women, both realistically and virtually", Malala said. "They experience everything from being beaten in public to cruel orders banning learning, working and living freely."

"The Taliban's systematic brutality and oppression of women is so severe that Afghan activists and human rights defenders call it gender apartheid," she added.

Malala stressed that Afghan women and girls need more than sympathy right now.

She called on influential governments and institutions to use their power and hold the Taliban accountable through international law. In particular, she called on Muslim leaders and Islamic organisations to challenge the Taliban's policies.