Azadi Briefing

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

Abdul Salam Zaeef, a former senior Taliban official, has criticized the extremist group’s severe restrictions on female education.

“Those who oppose modern education or invent arguments to undermine its importance, they are either completely ignorant or oppose Muslims under the garb of Islam,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on March 5.

The Kabul-based Zaeef is one of the founders of the Taliban and a former deputy minister and ambassador during the group’s first stint in power from 1996 to 2001.

Since seizing power in 2021, the Taliban has banned girls above the sixth grade from going to school and women from attending university, in moves that provoked international condemnation.

Zaeef, a dissenting voice for years, is the second prominent Taliban figure who has recently criticized the group's restrictions on female education.

The Taliban’s deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, called on the government to rescind the ban on women’s education.

"Learning should be open to all because education is obligatory for both men and women,” he said. “No country can progress without education.”

Why It’s Important: Zaeef and Stanikzai’s comments highlight the rifts within the Taliban over the issue of female education.

The Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, has come under growing fire from figures inside the group over his extremist policies, including the severe restrictions on women’s rights.

In his attempt to create what he sees as a "pure" Islamic system, Akhundzada has alienated many Afghans and isolated the Taliban's unrecognized government internationally.

What's Next: It is unclear if Akhundzada, who has the ultimate say on all important matters under the Taliban’s theocratic system, will moderate the group’s policies.

Without reversing its repressive policies and creating an inclusive government, the Taliban appears unlikely to gain international recognition.

What To Keep An Eye On

Afghan laborers and traders say they face increasing visa restrictions in the Gulf states.

During the past four decades, the oil-rich states in the Persian Gulf have provided jobs to hundreds of thousands of poor, uneducated Afghans.

"I want to go there, but the Gulf Arab nations are now reluctant to grant us visas," Naqibullah, a resident of southeastern Khost Province, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

“There is no business here, but it is tough to obtain a visa for the United Arab Emirates,” said Asmatullah Zadran, a trader in Khost.

According to a January report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent research organization, none of the Gulf countries, except Oman, currently grant work visas to Afghans.

Why It's Important: The increasing visa restrictions on Afghans are likely to affect tens of thousands of families who have relied on remittances from family members working in the Gulf.

Afghanistan is already reeling from an economic crisis and mass unemployment since the Taliban takeover.

The drop in remittances from the Gulf are likely to further aggravate the economic situation in Afghanistan, where millions of people are on the verge of starvation.

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

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. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

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

A prominent ethnic Pashtun poet has spent a month in Taliban captivity in what his family and rights activists see as another example of the hard-line Islamist group's sustained assault on freedom of expression.

Ezatullah Zawab's family members say they are completely in the dark about his situation a month after he was arrested under unclear circumstances. But Zawab's supporters have an idea why he is behind bars.

"We think that it is a conspiracy to silence my father through character assassination," Zawab's son, Nusrat Arman, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

Arman has rejected official claims that Zawab was arrested for carrying alcohol, which is strictly prohibited by the Taliban.

Zawab's supporters say the real reason is that the Taliban did not like Zawab's literary magazine, Meena ("Love" in Pashto), because it published prose and poetry that could be seen as critical of life under Taliban rule. Zawab is known for penning satirical verse with political undertones.

"The current political system in Afghanistan is dictatorial," Zarifa Ghafari, a rights campaigner, told Radio Azadi. "The Taliban silences anyone who raises a voice against it."

Why It's Important: Zawab's arrest shows the Taliban is underscoring its lack of tolerance for dissent in any form.

Pashtun poets such as Zawab were relatively immune to Taliban oppression because of their popularity and distance from known political factions. Some of them even dared to criticize the Taliban government for its abuses and mistakes publicly.

But as the Taliban strengthens its stranglehold on power, it is showing a willingness to mute even traditional avenues for airing grievances and criticism like poetry.

Since its return to power in August 2021, the Taliban has imposed all-encompassing censorship. It has detained and tortured journalists, writers, and activists, prompting hundreds in those fields to flee the country.

Despite early promises to tolerate a free press, the Afghan media has significantly declined under the Taliban. Hundreds of media outlets have been shut down and journalists not working for the Taliban are grappling with mounting restrictions.

To deny Afghans access to credible information, the Taliban has banned some international broadcasters. Its government has also denied visas to foreign correspondents to keep the country under wraps.

What's Next: The Taliban is doubling down on creating a media environment that only amplifies its views and promotes its interests.

Some Taliban officials had already declared all forms of photography un-Islamic amid speculation that women will be completely banned from working in or appearing on electronic media.

As the Taliban continues to replace journalism with propaganda, waning international interest in Afghanistan and diminishing access to the country makes accurate reporting on Taliban-ruled Afghanistan increasingly difficult.

What To Keep An Eye On

An international nongovernmental organization, the Danish Refugee Council (DRC), has issued a fresh warning about the impact of climate change in Afghanistan.

"Afghanistan is the 12th-most-vulnerable country in the world to the impacts of climate change," the DRC said in a report issued on February 27.

The report says climate change "continues to worsen the frequency and severity of climate-related disasters such as droughts, floods, and landslides."

The DRC warned that a deepening water crisis and climate change present unique challenges to some 40 million Afghans, 80 percent of whom depend on natural resources for their livelihoods.

"Next year, we will not be able to look after our livestock, so we are selling them now," Faeza, a peasant in the western Ghor Province, told Radio Azadi. "Without water, grass, and vegetable feed, it will be difficult to keep them alive."

Why It's Important: Afghanistan remains one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change, and its ability to adapt and difficulties in attracting international aid under the unrecognized Taliban government stand as major obstacles to dealing with the situation.

In one rare bit of good news following years of drought, an ongoing spell of rain and snowfall is expected to prevent drought in parts of the country this summer. However, the country remains the third-greatest at risk from human and natural disasters in the world.

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. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org