Azadi Briefing

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

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent 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

Thousands of Afghan men and women are flocking to the central passport office in the Afghan capital, Kabul, after the Taliban suspended online applications, forcing people to apply for them in person.

On January 10, videos circulating on social media platforms captured the desperation of Afghans seeking travel documents.

"The crowd was so big that my father lost his warm scarf," said Haseebullah, who arrived around midnight to line up in the freezing temperatures.

"Everyone was miserable," he told Radio Azadi.

Shizer Samim, a university student from the northern Balkh Province, is seeking a passport to study abroad after the Taliban barred women from attending universities in December 2022.

"I applied for a passport a year ago but I still don't have one," she told Radio Azadi.

Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, hundreds of thousands of Afghans have attempted to get passports. But the process is marred by corruption, excessive fees, and long delays.

Why It's Important: The eagerness to obtain passports indicates that educated, skilled, and well-off Afghans are voting against the Taliban with their feet by seeking to escape the militants' harsh rule.

Afghanistan's extensive humanitarian and economic crises, coupled with the Taliban's draconian restrictions and bans on education and work for women, have prompted many Afghans to seek a normal life elsewhere.

Hundreds of thousands of Afghans, mostly educated and skilled professionals, government workers, and middle-class entrepreneurs have fled Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power.

Despite the Taliban promising amnesty for former soldiers and government workers, human rights watchdogs have documented extensive reprisal killings, beatings, detentions, and harassment by the hard-line Islamist group.

The Taliban has established a monopoly on power by appointing its members and leaders to government positions, which leaves little incentive for most Afghans to believe in a future under the group.

Last year more than 1 million "undocumented Afghans" were expelled from neighboring Iran and Pakistan, and there were also significant deportations from Turkey.

Those events serve as additional incentives for Afghans to obtain documents before traveling abroad.

What's Next: Without significant improvements in the Taliban's governance and the country's economy, the Afghan exodus will only worsen.

The fading Afghan crisis from the international agenda and the mistreatment of Afghans in neighboring countries ensure that the four-decade cycle of Afghan displacement will continue.

What To Keep An Eye On

A senior Pakistani Islamist politician's visit to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to revive strained ties between the two neighbors has left many unanswered questions.

Maulana Fazlur Rehman, leader of the Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) party, has spent nearly a week in Kabul to meet with Taliban officials, including its reclusive chief, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, and leaders of Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), otherwise known as the Pakistani Taliban.

He went in an attempt to reduce tensions between erstwhile allies the Taliban and Islamabad over the group's alleged backing for the TTP. Since the Taliban's return to power in Afghanistan, TTP attacks have killed thousands and threaten elections in JUI-F strongholds in northwestern Pakistan.

Rehman had claimed that while he was invited by the Taliban, his trip was sanctioned by Islamabad and the Foreign Ministry briefed him on the state of relations between the two countries.

But on January 11, Pakistani Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Mumtaz Zahra Baloch said Rehman's trip was private and "was not sponsored or advised by the government of Pakistan."

Why It's Important: While Rehman might gain some breathing space from the TTP for his election campaign, his visit is unlikely to improve bilateral ties immediately.

Islamabad remains staunchly opposed to talks with the TTP mediated by the Taliban, which is reluctant to give up on a key ideological and organizational ally.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

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.

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

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent 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

Afghan journalists complain of growing restrictions amid mounting Taliban repression during the past year.

Journalists inside the country told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that access to information and censorship is tightening as they face torture, beatings, arrests, and threats.

“Freedom of expression faces grave challenges,” said a journalist who requested anonymity. He added that the Taliban often prevented them from publishing critical stories.

A woman journalist in western Afghanistan said that the Taliban barred her from doing her job.

“It was the worst year for journalists,” she told Radio Azadi. “I was repeatedly thrown out of press conferences just because I am a woman.”

The Taliban has banned women from showing their faces on television. It has also shut down radio stations run by women.

The Afghanistan Journalist Center (AFJC), an Afghan media watchdog, has documented 168 cases of violence and intimidation against journalists. These include instances of censorship, lack of access to information, detentions, conviction, torture, and threats.

Afghanistan is now one of the seven most dangerous countries for journalists globally, according to the global media watchdog Reports Without Borders.

In March, a bomb attack claimed by Islamic State-Khorasan, a Taliban rival, killed three journalists and injured 20 more.

Why It's Important: Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, press freedom has dramatically declined in Afghanistan. It flourished while the pro-western Afghan republic existed from 2001 to 2021.

Despite early Taliban promises to allow media freedom, its hard-line government has tortured, threatened, and detained scores of journalists.

The once vibrant Afghan media was dramatically diminished after the Taliban closed independent print and electronic media outlets. Television and radio stations as well as newspapers also shut down after losing international funding.

In draconian efforts to control the free flow of information, the Taliban has denied visas to foreign correspondents and banned some international broadcasters.

Hundreds of Afghan journalists went into exile after the Taliban’s return to power. Many were harassed or fled out of fear of persecution by the Taliban.

What's Next: The Taliban is shaping a media environment that only serves its interests.

Even the independent media outlets still working inside Afghanistan are increasingly unable to publish or broadcast anything critical of the Taliban. At the same time, the group appears to be determined to replace journalism with propaganda.

Without access to the country, international media too will find it difficult to do in-depth reporting about Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

What To Keep An Eye On

The February 8 parliamentary elections in Pakistan appear to be under increasing threat from Islamist militants along the country’s western border with Afghanistan.

On January 3, former lawmaker Mohsin Dawar survived an assassination attempt in North Waziristan. He leads a secular Pashtun political party, the National Democratic Movement, which opposes the Pakistani and Afghan Taliban groups.

On the same day, a candidate of the Islamist Jamiat Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-), Qari Khairullah, survived a roadside bomb attack in Bajaur. North Waziristan and Bajaur are districts in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province.

These were the latest in the growing number of attacks on the February 8 parliamentary elections being held in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the rest of Pakistan. The region is bearing the brunt of attacks by Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) since the Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan. The TTP shares ideological and organizational ties with the Afghan Taliban.

Why It's Important: The TTP’s campaign has already poisoned Islamabad's relationship with its erstwhile ally, the Taliban.

Since October, Pakistan has repeatedly shut border crossings with Afghanistan and expelled more than half a million Afghans to try to pressure the Afghan Taliban.

Escalating attacks in the run-up to Pakistan's parliamentary vote would derail a fragile diplomatic effort to mend ties between Islamabad and Kabul.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

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.