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A gun hangs in a house belonging to Islamic State fighters that was destroyed in the ongoing conflict with the Taliban in Kabul on January 5.
A gun hangs in a house belonging to Islamic State fighters that was destroyed in the ongoing conflict with the Taliban in Kabul on January 5.

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, a new RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, a senior correspondent with RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) has claimed credit for a deadly suicide attack on the Taliban government's Foreign Ministry building in Kabul.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said in a statement to AFP on January 13 that at least 10 people are believe to have been killed and another 53 wounded in the attack by the Islamic State offshoot, which has heightened its deadly campaign in Afghanistan. Some Taliban officials and diplomatic sources said the death toll was as high as 20. Most of the victims were civilians working for the ministry.

A diplomatic source said on condition of anonymity that the blast occurred as Taliban officials were meeting with their Chinese counterparts, a claim later rejected by a Taliban official. But the brazen bombing -- coming just a day before Russia's top diplomat for Afghanistan was to visit with Taliban officials in the same building -- put a spotlight on the isolated government's inability to stop IS-K attacks, even on highly secured targets.

The attack struck at the heart of the Taliban government and follows the recent assassination of a senior Taliban security official in the northeastern province of Badakhshan.

Why It's Important: The IS-K's escalating attacks on the Taliban government are part of its broader strategy to steer a nationwide insurgency challenging Taliban rule and are a clear signal that the extremist group aims to establish itself firmly as the Taliban's main jihadist rival.

While most of the IS-K attacks carried out since the Taliban seized power in August 2021 were against religious minorities and civilians, this one was at the struggling government's front door.

It is also a continuation of a recent campaign to undermine the Taliban's relations with regional powers and neighbors. Since September, the IS-K has targeted the diplomatic and commercial presence of Pakistan, Russia, and China.

The direct attack on a key ministry creates another major hurdle for the Taliban's hard-line Islamist government, which is not recognized by any country and has become further isolated due to its imposition of repressive policies, particularly its ban on women's education and work.

The attack also indicated that the Taliban's crackdown on the IS-K and Afghanistan's tiny Salafist community has not successfully eliminated the group or seriously undermined its capacity to foment violence. Since seizing power in August 2021, the Taliban has targeted Afghan Salafists in the belief that the community provides the bulk of IS-K's recruits. But most of IS-K's known members and leaders are foreign, and it has consistently deployed foreign fighters in high-profile attacks.

What's Next: If the Taliban doubles down in its effort to fight the IS-K through repression, it can expect to see an escalation in attacks. A change in the Taliban's oppressive policies of governance, however, could create an opportunity to take advantage of popular support against IS-K violence. It could also open the way for international help in countering the threat IS-K poses to regional security.

The Week's Best Stories

  • Afghans dependent on humanitarian aid for survival face an even more dire situation after major international aid agencies suspended their operations in Afghanistan in response to the Taliban's ban on Afghan women working for NGOs.
  • In a video report, we take you to Afghanistan's central province of Daikundi, where residents are struggling to heat their homes this winter amid soaring fuel costs.
  • In another video report, we meet the growing number of homeless Afghan drug addicts in the southern province of Nimroz. Addiction rates in Afghanistan continue to soar as international assistance has dried up since the Taliban seized power.

What To Keep An Eye On

On January 11, the executive committee of the intergovernmental Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) met in the Saudi port city of Jeddah to discuss the Taliban's recent restrictions on Afghan women and the deteriorating human rights situation in Afghanistan.

A communique issued by the 57 OIC members, all Muslim majority countries, expressed its "disappointment over the suspension of female education in Afghanistan and the decision ordering all national and international nongovernmental organizations to suspend female employees."

The OIC indicated that it would continue to engage with the Taliban to encourage it to rescind its discriminatory policies and adhere to universal human rights principles and standards.

Why It's Important: The OIC statement and the visit by a delegation of Muslim scholars recently sent to Afghanistan undermine the Taliban's claim that its treatment of Afghan women and other extremist policies are in keeping with Islamic Shari'a law.

A united Muslim diplomatic position deprives the Taliban of any credibility and legitimacy to claims that its policies and treatment of Afghans are compatible with its efforts to create an Islamic political system. It strengthens international pressure on the Taliban's unrecognized government to recognize that adhering to international norms of human rights and governance is the only way to end its current isolation.

The OIC stands indirectly strengthens the hand of more pragmatic voices within the Taliban against hard-line clerics led by the group's supreme leader, Mawalawi Haibatullh Akhundzada, who is behind most of the Taliban's extremist policies.

That's all from me for now. Remember to send me any questions, comments, or tips.

Until next time,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday.

Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) militants patrol an area in Shawal, in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan, in August 2021. The Afghan Taliban's takeover of neighboring Afghanistan that month has emboldened the TTP to carry out more attacks within Pakistan.
Tehrik-e Taliban (TTP) militants patrol an area in Shawal, in the Pakistani tribal region of South Waziristan, in August 2021. The Afghan Taliban's takeover of neighboring Afghanistan that month has emboldened the TTP to carry out more attacks within Pakistan.

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, a new RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Mustafa Sarwar, a senior news editor at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

The Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group claimed responsibility for the killing of an official and officer of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) spy agency. Police said the two men were shot dead on January 3 outside a hotel in Punjab, Pakistan's most populous and prosperous province.

The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, said in a statement that a "secret squad of TTP killed ISI Deputy Director Multan Naveed Sadiq along with his colleague Inspector Nasir Butt." Islamabad confirmed the killings but not the TTP's involvement.

It was the latest high-profile TTP attack in Pakistan since the militant group ended a cease-fire with Islamabad in late November. The Afghan Taliban, which seized power in Kabul in 2021, has been accused of sheltering the TTP, a close ideological and organizational ally.

Why it's important: The TTP's intensifying attacks inside Pakistan have inflamed tensions between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban, who are longtime allies. In a reference to the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan's political and military leadership on January 2 said no country would be allowed to harbor militants who carry out attacks against the South Asian nation.

A day later, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid said Pakistan's accusations were "baseless" and "provocative." He added that the Taliban was trying its best to prevent any groups from using "the territory of Afghanistan against Pakistan or any other country." This was a pledge the Taliban made under the 2020 U.S.-Taliban deal that paved the way for the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan in August 2021. But the Taliban's alleged sheltering of the TTP suggests it is unwilling to fulfil its promise.

The locations of the TTP's recent attacks are also significant. Previously, the extremist group had concentrated its assaults on Pakistan's northwestern tribal areas, its former stronghold. But it is now expanding the scope of its attacks, including a bombing in the capital, Islamabad, on December 20.

What's next: The TTP is likely to continue its attacks inside Pakistan, which in turn could prompt Pakistan to put more pressure on the Afghan Taliban. In April 2022, Pakistan carried out unprecedented air strikes in eastern Afghanistan, killing dozens of people. Pakistan said it was targeting the TTP. The air strikes provoked unusually harsh exchanges, with the Taliban issuing threats against Islamabad. Similar action in the future is likely to further worsen tensions between Islamabad and the Afghan Taliban.

The Week's Best Stories

During 2022, the Taliban imposed sweeping restrictions on women's appearances, freedom of movement, and their right to work and receive an education. Afghan women said the militant group has effectively erased them from society. Activists have warned that the Taliban is likely to further erode women's rights in 2023 as the group reestablishes its brutal regime of the 1990s.

Women across Afghanistan continue to protest recent bans by the Taliban on education and employment opportunities for females. Some have burned pictures of Taliban leaders. Male professors and university students have also protested against the increased restrictions on women in higher education. Despite international condemnation, the Taliban has said it is unwilling to reverse the bans.

What To Keep An Eye On

Iran announced on January 3 that it is planning to offer more scholarships to female Afghan university students. Last month, the Taliban banned women from attending universities in Afghanistan, a decision that was widely criticized, including by Tehran.

Iran's official IRNA news agency said Tehran University has increased its budget fivefold for scholarships to Afghan students. Some 470 Afghan students, around a quarter of them women, currently study at Tehran University, according to IRNA.

Iran's clerical regime has long been criticized for violating women's rights. But women in the Islamic republic are allowed to attend universities, where they make up the majority of students.

Why it's important: Iran's plan to offer scholarships to female Afghan students is part of a wider rebuke of the Taliban's ban on women's education by Islamic countries. Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is the only country in the world that has banned women's education.

Many Islamic countries and institutions have condemned the Taliban's ban, saying the decision has nothing to do with Islam. Qatar and Indonesia are also reportedly planning to offer university scholarships to Afghan women. But these efforts could be futile if the Taliban, as expected, prevents women from traveling abroad to receive an education.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you may have.

Until next time,

Mustafa Sarwar

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday.

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Radio Azadi is RFE/RL's Dari- and Pashto-language public service news outlet for Afghanistan. Every Friday in our newsletter, the Azadi Briefing, correspondent Abubakar Siddique shares his analysis of the week’s most important issues and explain why they matter.

To subscribe, click here.

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