The 'shocking' and 'cruel' oppression of Afghan women and girls by the Taliban against the backdrop of a severe humanitarian crisis has put the country's future in jeopardy, UN rights chief Volker Türk warned on Tuesday.

'Human rights in Afghanistan are in a state of collapse,' he told the Human Rights Council, before sounding the alarm over ongoing reports of extrajudicial killings, torture and ill-treatment and arbitrary arrests and detentions, as well as serious violations against former Government officials, as documented in a new human rights office (OHCHR) report.