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

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.

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key 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

Plans by the Afghan Taliban to build a hydroelectric dam on a major river in eastern Afghanistan have raised concerns in neighboring Pakistan.

A spokesman for the Taliban's Water and Energy Ministry said on December 18 that the “survey and design of the project are complete.” Matiullah Abid told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that construction of the dam on the Kunar River would begin when “funds are available.”

A Pakistani provincial minister said the unilateral decision by the Taliban to build the dam “will be considered a hostile act against Pakistan.”

Jan Achakzai, the provincial information minister in the southwestern province of Balochistan, warned of “severe consequences,” including “escalating tensions and potential conflict.”

The 480-kilometer-long Kunar River originates in the Hindu Kush mountains in northeastern Afghanistan and merges with the Kabul River before flowing downstream into Pakistan.

Why It's Important: Afghanistan’s rivers are a significant source of fresh water for Pakistan. But the two neighbors have never signed a bilateral water-sharing agreement.

Disputes over Kabul’s plans to build dams on major rivers, which would reduce the flow of water to Pakistan, threaten to be a source of tension and conflict between the two countries.

The planned hydroelectric dam on the Kunar River is the latest ambitious infrastructure project undertaken by the cash-strapped Taliban government, which remains internationally unrecognized.

Experts said the extremist group lacks the expertise and finances to fund the project. “Constructing dams requires technical know-how, a robust supply chain, and a lot of money," said Najib Aqa Fahim, an Afghan water-management expert.

Najibullah Sadid, another Afghan water expert, said the dam on the Kunar River is relatively small and will not threaten water flows to Pakistan.

“Pakistani officials are exaggerating the dam's impact," he told Radio Azadi. “It will be a small dam aimed at generating electricity, which will store little water.”

What's Next: The Taliban’s hydropower plans could exacerbate tensions between the Afghan Taliban and Pakistan.

The longtime allies have fallen out over the Afghan extremist group’s alleged sheltering of the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) militant group, which has waged a yearslong insurgency against Islamabad.

Pakistan has been accused of using pressure tactics to force the Taliban to sever ties with the TTP, including by expelling hundreds of thousands of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, shutting key border crossings, and blocking Afghan transit goods in recent months.

What To Keep An Eye On

It has been one year since the Taliban banned women from attending all public and private universities in Afghanistan, in a move that attracted widespread condemnation.

Afghan women, speaking to Radio Azadi, described the toll of the ban. “When I see boys continuing their education, I lose all hope and wish that I was not born a girl," said Spozhmai, who was a medical student in Kabul.

Saira, a medical student in the western city of Herat, said she cannot bear seeing her male classmates graduate, while she was largely confined to staying at home.

Why It's Important: Despite growing international pressure, the Taliban appears unlikely to reverse its severe restrictions on female education.

The extremist group has also banned girls above the sixth grade from attending school.

Without lifting the restrictions, the Taliban is unlikely to gain international recognition or legitimacy among Afghans.

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.

*Please note that the next newsletter will be issued on January 5.