Azadi Briefing

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

Mursal Nabizadah, a 32-year-old female lawmaker who served in the previous Afghan government, was shot dead by unidentified assailants in her home in the capital in the early hours of January 15. Kabul police said that one of Nabizadah's bodyguards was also killed in the attack and her brother was wounded. The motive behind the shooting at Nabizadah's home in the city's Khushal Khan Mena district remains unclear, and no group has claimed responsibility.

In 2019, Nabizadah was elected to represent Kabul in the National Assembly, and served on the parliamentary Defense Committee. She was a critic of the Taliban and was reportedly working for a private NGO.

Why It's Important: Nabizadah's slaying marks the first time a former lawmaker from the previous government has been killed in Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in August 2021. She was one of the few former lawmakers to remain in the country after the takeover, and her death puts a spotlight both on the hard-line Islamist group's difficulties in maintaining security and the dangers faced by women under Taliban rule.

Upon taking power, the Taliban extended an amnesty and offered security guarantees to Afghans who had worked with or for the former government, but the risk for those who chose to stay behind -- particularly for women involved in government -- is immense. Scores of women politicians told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that they were shocked by Nabizadah's killing.

The deadly incident also drew widespread international condemnation. "She was killed in darkness, but the Taliban build their system of gender apartheid in full daylight," European Parliament representative Hannah Neumann said in response to the attack. The U.S. charge d'affaires for Afghanistan, Karen Decker, tweeted that she was "angered, heartbroken by [the] murder of Mursal Nabizada," calling it a tragic loss. "Hold the perpetrators accountable!" she wrote.

What's Next: Nabizadah was known for criticizing the Taliban's ban against women's work and education, and the silencing of such a prominent voice sends a clear warning to other women who continue to lobby for more rights in the face of increasingly repressive policies.

Some female politicians told Radio Azadi that they believe the Taliban, whose government has struggled to maintain security amid a wave of terrorist attacks, is incapable of preventing such targeted strikes in the future. While the Islamic State-Khorasan extremist group has claimed responsibility for many high-profile attacks, the silence that has followed Nabizadeh's killing has added to the concerns of protesting women.

What To Keep An Eye On

The extreme cold of this year's winter in Afghanistan has added to humanitarian concerns in the country. The Taliban-run government has said that at least 78 people and more than 77,000 livestock died in eight provinces in the course of a week due to temperatures that fell to as low as minus 28 degrees Celsius.

Caroline Gluck, the UNHCR spokeswoman in Afghanistan, told Radio Azadi on January 17 that "it became so cold that many had to dig holes in the ground to escape the cold and sleep there at night to stay warm."

Even before the cold snap, many Afghans had expressed concerns that they could not afford to buy coal and other fuel to keep their families warm. Jalil, a father of three and a Kabul resident, said this week that "1 ton of coal used to be 13,000 [afghanis -- about $146], is now 17,000 [about $191], " and that the cost of natural gas and staples such as rice have all risen sharply.

Why It's Important: The icy weather has further deteriorated living conditions for millions of Afghans who have already been hard-hit by food shortages and ever-increasing poverty and unemployment under Taliban rule. Contributing to the problem is the Taliban's recent decision to ban women from working for nongovernmental organizations, hampering their ability to assist ordinary citizens by delivering aid.

The United Nations has pledged more assistance, but observers have expressed doubt that it will be enough to cover the needs of people in hard-hit areas across Afghanistan. The brutal cold snap has only added to the challenges, with death tolls expected to rise as the situation in remote villages cut off by heavy snow becomes clear.

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

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.

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.