Afghanistan
NATO: U.S. Ambassador To NATO Discusses Russia, Afghanistan
Ambassador Victoria Nuland at RFE/RL's Prague broadcast center on May 31 (RFE/RL) June 1, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- United States Ambassador to NATO Victoria Nuland was in Prague this week to discuss a proposed missile-defense shield with Czech officials and other NATO allies. The system would consist of a radar, to be based in the Czech Republic, and missile interceptors in neighboring Poland. The United States says the system would protect much of Europe and the United States from missile attacks coming from hostile or rogue states.
Washington has repeatedly said it is not aimed at Moscow, but Russia this week accused the United States of starting a new arms race. RFE/RL correspondents Jeremy Bransten and Irina Lagunina interviewed Nuland about missile defense and NATO's operations in Afghanistan.
RFE/RL: Let's start with the proposed missile-defense system that Washington wants to base in the Czech Republic and Poland. Despite all the U.S. assertions to the contrary, it seems that Moscow believes it's going to be aimed against Russia. Russia this week test-fired an ICBM designed to carry multiple warheads. President Vladimir Putin said that it was part of a response to the U.S. shield. Is there a danger that this could escalate into a new arms race between Moscow and Washington? Isn't it irresponsible to risk such an arms race?
Victoria Nuland: You know, it's really quite unfortunate that Russia has chosen to escalate its own rhetoric. We have said repeatedly that this is a defensive system, that in fact the interceptors carry no warheads, that they are two-stage missiles -- they can't even catch anything coming from Russia -- and that we are prepared to offer full transparency, full verification of all of those things, and even more importantly, we've said to the Russians: "Hey, don't build missiles. Join us in building missile defenses. Let's develop these systems together." Obviously, you don't wake up one morning and say: "I'd like to launch an ICBM now." This missile has been in development for many, many years. It's designed to modernize their aging missiles. We consider that a normal part of development and it's just unfortunate that this has been counterposed.
RFE/RL: So what kind of concrete cooperation is Washington offering Moscow?
Nuland: We've offered a full range of things. The president called [Russian] President Putin in March and made a general offer and then [U.S. Defense] Secretary Gates was in Moscow about a month and a half ago. Everything from joint technology development to building radars together, sharing information from the system. It could only be limited by what we could agree to, so again, as I said, our hope is that the Russians, instead of focusing on building missiles, will join us in building missile defenses, because we think that just as we are at threat from an Iranian missile program, so is Moscow.
RFE/RL: Is the proposed missile-defense shield primarily aimed at Iran? What about North Korea and other 'rogue states?'
Nuland: The radar in the Czech Republic and the interceptors in Poland are the part of the system that would create additional coverage, not just for the United States but also for all of our allies against a long-range missile threat, primarily from Iran. As you know, for the North Korean threat, we have facilities in Alaska and California, so the primary focus now is on Iran. They today have missiles that can threaten allies that are at short range. They're developing medium-range missiles, and we believe that by 2015 they could have a long-range capability. As you know, it's going to take some time to finish our negotiations and our building, so we want to be ready.
RFE/RL: Why did the United States select Poland and the Czech Republic? Are they the optimal place for blocking potential Iranian missiles? Why not position the shield closer to the region?
Nuland: It's purely a matter of geography. What the radar does is it helps you cue on the incoming missiles so that the interceptor can catch it. If it is too close to the launch, for example if it were in Turkey or Bulgaria, it doesn't have enough time to cue the missile before it's already flown past, so you need a little bit of time, so that's how…it's pure physics and geometry.
RFE/RL: Let's return to U.S.-Russian relations. Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 31 accused the United States of starting a new arms race. What is your response?
Nuland: We just find it ludicrous, frankly. President Bush and President Putin presided over one of the deepest cuts in strategic weaponry for both sides, Moscow and Washington, in history. That should be the legacy of these two guys. That is the legacy my president believes in for their time in office. We are talking now about a defensive system, as I said, that has no warheads on it, 10 interceptors, can't even fly high enough to reach Russian missiles, and Moscow is turning this into an enormous new strategic threat. The strategic threat for the United States, for our European allies, and for the people of the Russian Federation today comes from Iran and comes from the fact that despite our best efforts -- those of Washington, of Moscow, and of all the countries in between -- to stop, limit, deter Iran from trying to acquire weapons, we haven't succeeded. And that's where we need to redouble our efforts and need to redouble our defenses in case diplomacy doesn't work.
RFE/RL: So you're saying that Putin's wording -- that this is an arms race -- is just rhetoric that has no basis in fact?
Nuland: The concern is that it is completely mischaracterizing for the Russian people and for all of us what this is about. This is a defensive system. It's a tiny, tiny system, and it's designed for Iran. What we would hope is instead of spending his energy in that direction, he would put his energy towards building missile defenses with us, rather than new Russian missiles.
RFE/RL: There appears to be a certain contradiction. On the one hand, NATO officials, as well as the Russian military, say the two sides have very fruitful cooperation within the NATO-Russia Council. On the other hand, Russia seems to be treating NATO as an organization hostile to Russia's interests? How do you square the two?
Nuland: I'm a big believer in the NATO-Russia Council. We're about to celebrate the 10th anniversary of NATO-Russia relations and of sitting together as 27 countries in alphabetical order around the table in the same way that NATO allies do. And the hope was that obviously with the end of the Cold War, that the security challenges and threats that we faced, both allies and Russia, were more the same than they were different, and that we had the potential to cooperate across the range.
I would say -- and I say this not only as a diplomat, I say it as a mom -- the NATO-Russia Council has been important in the sense that there are a whole bunch of programs that we do together -- NATO military officers, Russian military officers, NATO civilians, Russian civilians that are below the level of this political rhetoric now -- that are important, and they are important for proving to the next generation that we can work together. For example, every single year we have an exercise to plan and be ready in case of a nuclear accident. For example, Russia just joined NATO allies in Wyoming last year. That gives NATO allies and Russia the chance to know each other, to work together, to know that in that kind of crisis we could do something.
We are both now training Afghans and Central Asians in counternarcotics. The threat of drugs from Afghanistan is a threat to Russia and a threat to all of us, so we're working together there, and our drug enforcement folks are learning to work together. They know we have a common purpose.
So the NATO-Russia Council is important in building those next-generation relationships of confidence and cooperation. I think the distressing part is that the political rhetoric is going in the opposite direction, because I want to live in a world -- my kids want to live in a world -- where we're working together to beat the common threats, not creating artificial threats between us.
RFE/RL: Moving to the situation in Afghanistan, the number of Afghan civilian casualties has risen recently as the result of U.S. air strikes and other U.S.-led combat activity. It's putting pressure on Afghan President Hamid Karzai. Nongovernmental organizations say that compensation mechanisms for the families of those killed are inadequate. Is there any initiative under way by the U.S. government to see that proper compensation payments are made to the families of innocent civilian victims?
Nuland: The United States, particularly our military operating in theater, does pay compensation, not only to affected families but also to tribes in affected areas as compensation for the loss of life, the loss of breadwinners. What we're trying to do in a NATO context now is to get more of our allies to have similar funds, either in common as a NATO fund or nationally, because we find that they don't often have that ability to react quickly. I think that everyone is conscious of the importance [of this issue], whether they are coalition forces or NATO forces.
We are doing all we can to minimize civilian casualties and any civilian loss of life is one too many. That said, I think we have to appreciate what the Taliban are trying to do. They understand that it is a vulnerability, and they are increasingly trying to use Afghan civilians as human shields and to abuse the hospitality of the population and put civilians in harm's way. We also need to speak up and say that there is no -- as the secretary-general likes to say -- moral equivalency between us and an enemy who beheads, kills schoolteachers, bombs indiscriminately.
So that's what we're facing. It is a war and civilians are unfortunately being targeted.
RFE/RL: That can be explained in a sort of abstract way but are you concerned that Afghan President Hamid Karzai is being put in an increasingly tenuous position because the more civilian casualties rise, the less he's going to be able to explain that to his people?
Nuland: I think what's important is that whenever we have an incident like this, we are prepared to investigate quickly to, as you say, compensate to the best of our ability, to explain to the population how it happened and why it happened, and often to tell the story of the active abuse by the Taliban of the village. And I think President Karzai understands that. He's frankly been a true father to his nation in going to comfort those who've been caught in the crossfire. He went down recently to Shindad himself. He always sees the families in the [presidential] palace, so it is a long and difficult struggle. We need his leadership and we also need to continue to be as careful and caring as we can be.
RFE/RL: Recently, there were several reports from Afghanistan saying that key Taliban commanders had been killed in numbers that would not allow their followers to regroup and stage major offensives. That was clearly incorrect and Taliban fighters have regrouped and continue to be very active. What went wrong?
Nuland: I think actually we've had considerable success over the winter and spring months. There was a lot of talk six months ago about a massive Taliban spring offensive that, in fact, did not materialize because NATO forces, coalition forces, and Afghan forces have been so active, particularly in the Kandahar area, Helmand, and throughout the east. And, as you say, we have been able to take out some of the ringleaders.
But we still face a serious and committed movement, and they work very actively to grow new leaders as quickly as they can. So this is not a quick struggle. This is going be a long struggle and it's going be a struggle not only on the military side, the part that we hope increasingly Afghans can take over. But this is a very poor country, the fifth-poorest in the world before this started, that has gone through 20 plus years of civil war, and we have all got to be committed to the strengthening of the Afghan economy, the democratic system, a better way of life for a long, long time -- and, obviously, beating the drug problem, too.
RFE/RL: Some argue that the Taliban has regained popularity among parts of the population because the same warlords that ruled the regions for years are still there, so locals don't see any benefit, any changes, under the Karzai administration. Do you see this reliance of warlords as a weakness of the Karzai administration and of NATO operations in Afghanistan?
Nuland: I think that one of the great successes of the Karzai period has been his ability to create a big tent and bring a lot of the old warlords into a political process, whether they're in parliament or government. I think what we still see is the Taliban being able to operate and move within its historic Pashtun belt and largely doing it the way insurgents do it. They do it by intimidating the population, and so our job is to help the government offer another way of life, offer the security to help the population withstand that kind of intimidation and offer economic opportunities other than growing poppies, which obviously fueled the Taliban. That's the challenge as we see it. It's less a warlord challenge, and more a challenge of better governance, better economic opportunity, better security than what the Taliban are offering.
RFE/RL: What's at stake for NATO in Afghanistan? The alliance has made this mission its key priority and it seems it can't afford to fail or it could raise a big question mark about its purpose and viability for the future. Do you agree?
Nuland: I'm an optimist by nature, but I've also been out to visit our soldiers every few months since this operation started and I've got to tell you: this ain't your daddy's NATO. This is a NATO that is working hand-in-hand with the Afghan National Army, working multinationally on the ground, as trainers from the air, and also training the next generation of Afghans, whether it's security providers and even in terms of growing their economy -- we have an economic commitment there too. So I think NATO is more than up to the challenge as a military-political organization. I think what's important is that European leaders continue to remind their populations that this is a mission that needs to be supported in our own security interest.
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Pakistan Launches Air Strikes On Militant Hideouts In Afghanistan
Pakistani military jets on December 24 conducted air strikes inside Afghanistan, targeting suspected hideouts of the Islamist militant group Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).
The TTP positions targeted were in the Murgha area of the Bermal district in Afghanistan's Paktika Province, according to sources. The area borders the Angoor Adda town in Pakistan's volatile South Waziristan tribal district.
Pakistani jets carried out strikes against one target in the Murgha area and two more areas of the Bermal district.
There has been no official comment from Pakistan, but some accounts on X believed to be related to Pakistani intelligence confirmed the strikes and claimed casualties among the TTP militants.
An Afghan Taliban leader, speaking to RFE/RL on condition of anonymity, confirmed the strikes but added that it is too early to report on casualties.
The Afghan Taliban leader said an Afghan government official confirmed to him that there were strikes in three places in Paktika Province but it was not yet known who was targeted.
Pakistani security sources say the hideouts of the TTP were hit and dozens of militants were killed.
But a TTP official who spoke with RFE/RL said a camp of Pakistani displaced persons was bombed and civilians killed.
Pakistan says that TTP militants are hiding across the border in Afghanistan, and Islamabad has repeatedly asked the Afghan Taliban to take action against them. But the Afghan Taliban say the TTP are in Pakistan.
The air strikes on December 24 come just days after TTP militants carried out a raid near the northwestern border with Afghanistan that killed 16 security officers.
The attack occurred when militants opened fire at a security checkpoint in South Waziristan in the early hours of December 21. Laddha Police Deputy Superintendent Hidayat Ullah told RFE/RL that, in addition to the 16 killed, eight officers were wounded.
The TTP, which seeks to impose Shari'a law in Pakistan, claimed responsibility for the attack and said it killed 35 Pakistani security officers. RFE/RL could not independently confirm the number of dead. Neither side said how many militants were killed during the attack.
The year already had been one of the deadliest for the region.
There has been a steady increase in TTP attacks in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province since the Taliban regained control of Kabul in August 2021.
The Pakistan Center for Conflict and Security Studies said in its most recent report that more than 240 people were killed in "terrorist incidents" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in November.
The death toll included 68 security officers, the highest in a single month this year.
Meanwhile, the Army Public Relations Directorate (ISPR) claims to have killed dozens of suspected militants in operations in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa this month.
The governments of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan say they are committed to wiping out the TTP.
- By Asadullah Ludin and
- Abubakar Siddique
Exodus Of Doctors Leaves Afghans Scrambling For Treatment
Thousands of health-care professionals have fled Afghanistan since the Taliban seized power in 2021.
The severe shortage of doctors, including specialists, has left millions of Afghans with limited or no access to health-care services.
The flight of medical professionals has been fueled by the Taliban's oppressive rule and the humanitarian crisis gripping the country. Doctors have also complained of poor working conditions, low salaries, and harassment.
Abdullah Ahmadi, the former head of the Wazir Akbar Khan hospital in Kabul, one of the largest in the country, left Afghanistan just months after the Taliban takeover.
"The conditions for me were suffocating," said Ahmadi, an orthopedic surgeon who now lives in Finland.
He said that he was threatened and humiliated by unqualified and uneducated Taliban members who were appointed to positions in the Public Health Ministry and state-run hospitals.
Safa Hassani, an Afghan psychiatrist now living in Germany, said the Taliban's decision in September 2021 to ban teenage girls from attending school convinced his family to leave their homeland.
"I sacrificed my job and profession so my daughters can study," said Hassani, adding that overseas doctors face major challenges in obtaining a license to practice medicine in Europe.
'A Big Vacuum'
Sonia Cautain, a veteran French aid worker who worked in Kabul until 2023, witnessed firsthand the impact of the mass exodus of doctors from the country.
"Afghanistan has lost a lot of its best doctors," she said, adding that many left for the sake of their careers and families "because they didn't know what to expect" from the Taliban.
Cautain, who led a charity overseeing the French Medical Institute for Mothers and Children in Kabul, said the flight of doctors has "left a big vacuum in the health-care system."
The shortage of doctors is depriving Afghans of access to proper medical treatment. Some have been forced to seek expensive treatments abroad.
Abdul Ahad said he went to neighboring Pakistan to get treatment for kidney stones. He said he spent over $1,000 to get surgery.
Ahad complained that he could not find a qualified doctor to treat him in Kabul.
"Some of the [Afghan] doctors told me that the stones were in my kidney while others said it was stuck in my ureters," he said.
For every 10,000 people in Afghanistan, there are just 10 health workers, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in a recent report.
That is significantly lower than the required ratio of 44 health workers for every 10,000 people needed for universal health coverage, the organization said.
The WHO estimates that nearly 18 million Afghans need health assistance out of a population of around 40 million. Some 9.5 million Afghans have "limited or no basic health services," the organization said.
The Taliban's ban on education for women has deprived the country of new female medical graduates. Afghanistan was short of women health-care workers even before the Taliban seized power.
'Dying On Their Way To See A Doctor'
Earlier this month, the militant Islamist group banned midwife and nurse training in Afghanistan, triggering concerns over the health consequences for women.
The exodus of medical professionals has been compounded by the loss of international funding, which accounted for over 75 percent of public spending under the previous Western-backed Afghan government.
"The sharp drop in development support sent a shock through the economy and the public health system," Human Rights Watch said in a report released in February.
The rights watchdog said insufficient health care "has left the population vulnerable to disease and other consequences of inadequate medical care."
Kayarash, an Afghan doctor who moved to the Czech Republic, said the "quality of available treatments has decreased" in Afghanistan.
He said the shortage of doctors, particularly female physicians, has forced patients to wait longer for specialist care.
"We are likely to see more deaths because of preventable diseases," he said.
In remote parts of Afghanistan, the lack of doctors is already proving fatal.
Waris Shah lives in the remote district of Barmal in the southeastern province of Paktika. He said the shortage of doctors has compelled residents to seek treatment in Kabul, located hundreds of kilometers away.
"Patients are frequently dying while on their way to see a doctor," he said.
The Azadi Briefing: Taliban Minister Criticizes His Government's Media Crackdown
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 watching in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
The Taliban's deputy foreign minister, Sher Mohammad Abbas Stanikzai, has called on his government to end its clampdown on the press in Afghanistan.
"Too many restrictions and hurdles for media organizations dampen their morale," he told a gathering in Kabul on December 18.
He said harassment prevents Afghan media from "courageously" reporting on critical issues or criticizing authorities.
"Trust them because they are our media," he said while arguing that allowing the Afghan media freedom is in the interest of the Taliban government.
Stanikzai is the first senior Taliban figure to publicly criticize his government's draconian crackdown on Afghanistan's once-vibrant press. He has also repeatedly called on Taliban leaders to repeal the ban on women's education because "no country can progress without education."
Why It's Important: Stanikazi's comments are another instance of dissent within the Islamist group over its hard-line policies.
It is another attempt to warn against the consequences of the Taliban's extremist policies, which have turned its government into an international pariah that no country has formally recognized.
Yet the Taliban government has systematically moved to completely dismantle the free press, which mushroomed under the pro-Western Afghan republic.
Earlier this year, the Taliban attempted to kill visual media by banning the depiction of all living things, including humans and animals.
The Taliban crackdown on journalists consists of harassment, beatings, and detentions, as well as the jailing of scores of journalists. Fear of Taliban harassment has prompted hundreds of Afghan correspondents to go into exile.
Independent Afghan media in the country now operate under severe Taliban restrictions and broad censorship.
After the Taliban banned a discussion of "sensitive topics and criticisms" of its government and leaders, several independent analysts have been jailed for expressing their views on air.
The Taliban government has banned some international broadcasters and denied visas to most international correspondents.
Global and Afghan media watchdogs have accused the group of attempting to turn the Afghan press into a "propaganda tool."
What's Next: Despite Stanikzai's criticism, the Taliban's overall approach and policies toward the Afghan media are unlikely to change soon.
Its government will continue to stifle independent Afghan media to gradually push it toward becoming its propaganda arm.
What To Keep An Eye On
Residents of the Afghan capital, Kabul, are paying for the increasing air pollution in the city.
Doctors in the city say respiratory diseases have swiftly risen as the air quality has deteriorated with the onset of winter in the mountainous city.
"Out of every 20 patients I see, 15 suffer from respiratory diseases," Abdul Hadi Sherzad, a doctor at a private hospital in Kabul, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
This month, fuel prices have skyrocketed. Below-freezing nighttime temperatures prompt many of the city's impoverished residents to burn whatever they can find.
"People often burn car tires along with coal and wood," said Fariba, whose young son has contracted a lung infection because of air pollution, while her family cannot afford treatment.
Kabul is joining other major cities across South Asia, where air pollution is the worst globally, particularly during winter.
Why It's Important: Air pollution has become the No. 1 public-health hazard in Afghanistan's teeming capital.
Yet the cash-strapped Taliban government appears to be able to do little to mitigate the crisis, which is likely to cause many deaths this winter.
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
The Azadi Briefing will next appear on January 10.
- By Firuza Azizi
Taliban's Ban On Organ Transplants Deprives Afghans Of Lifesaving Treatment
The Taliban has banned organ transplants in a move that could deprive Afghans of potentially lifesaving treatment.
The extremist group said that the transplant of vital organs like the heart, kidneys, and lungs was "un-Islamic."
The move has angered patients and doctors, who say thousands of Afghan patients will be impacted by the ban.
"I'm in deep trouble," said Wahid, a resident of northern Parwan Province who has developed stones in both of his kidneys and gallbladder.
"What will I do now?" added Wahid, whose name has been changed for security reasons. "The doctors say a kidney transplant is the only way to cure me."
Rashid, a resident of western Herat Province, says the Taliban's ban will deprive his sick cousin of a kidney transplant.
"He is still waiting in the hospital even after our village gathered donations for his transplant surgery," said Rashid, whose name has also been changed to protect his identity.
Bismallah Shewamal, an Afghan surgeon based in Germany, says organ transplants are a vital part of modern medicine.
"Organ transplants are an important means to save lives," he said.
Organ transplants are widely used as medical treatment around the world, including in Islamic countries.
Most organs are voluntarily donated by individuals before their death. Some countries allow the close relatives of at-risk patients to donate their organs. In several European countries, all citizens are considered willing organ donors, although family consent is also sought.
Booming Organ Trade
But the sale and purchase of human organs is illegal internationally, although the practice remain a problem around the world.
In Afghanistan, widespread poverty has fueled an illegal organ trade, especially for kidneys. That is because most people can survive with just one kidney.
In the absence of laws regulating organ transplants, donors simply had to give their consent to a doctor and hospital to perform such procedures.
In Herat Province, the practice became so widespread that a settlement was nicknamed "one kidney village." Afghans struggling to make ends meet sold their kidneys in the community for around $1,500 each.
The practice appears to have increased since the Taliban's seizure of power in 2021, which triggered an economic crisis and worsened an already dire humanitarian disaster.
The Taliban's ban appears to be a response to the booming organ trade in Afghanistan. But the decision will also impact patients who need transplants for medical reasons.
In a statement issued on December 10, the Taliban's Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice said the sale and buying of human organs "violates human dignity and has no place in Islamic Shari'a law."
But Islamic scholars have questioned the Taliban's justification.
Abdul Saboor Abbasi, an Afghan Islamic scholar, says several contemporary rulings by leading Muslim jurists allow voluntary organ donations for transplants.
"The donor must be an adult and of sound mind," he said. "And the recipient must benefit from the transplant."
Written by Abubakar Siddique based on reporting by Firuza Azizi of RFE/RL's Radio Azadi
As Afghan School Year Ends, So Do Girls' Dreams
As the academic year ends in Afghanistan, students are saying goodbye to their teachers and classmates. But for girls as young as 11, it's the end of their education altogether, due to the Taliban's prohibition on girls studying after the sixth grade. One top student, whose identity has been concealed for her safety, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi that she was giving up her dreams of becoming a doctor as she tearfully left school for the last time.
The Azadi Briefing: Taliban Suffers Devastating Blow With Killing Of Minister
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 watching in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
In a major blow to Afghanistan’s Taliban government, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) claimed credit for killing its refugee affairs minister.
On December 11, Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing inside the ministry building in Kabul, which claimed the lives of at least five more people.
Haqqani, in his 60s, was the uncle of the Taliban's interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. He is the most senior Taliban figure killed by IS-K since the Islamist group returned to power in August 2021.
In 2011, the United States designated him a global terrorist and offered a $5 million bounty for help in capturing him.
Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani was the younger brother of the late Jalaluddin Haqqani, a leading anti-Soviet mujahidin commander in the 1980s who joined the Taliban in the 1990s. But his extended family and its loyalists are known as the Haqqani Network, once a brutal Taliban military wing.
Why It’s Important: The killing negates Taliban claims that its harsh crackdown against the IS-K has eliminated the ultraradical transnational jihadist group from Afghanistan.
It is a significant blow to the powerful Haqqani Network, which dominates the Taliban government’s internal security apparatus. Its members lead the Interior Ministry and the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), which has led the Taliban’s crackdown against IS-K.
“The murder proves IS-K’s small presence in Afghanistan is dangerous,” said Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator.
He said Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani’s killing would further isolate Sirajuddin Haqqani, who relied on his uncle to express sensitive views.
“His absence may create a leadership void,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Potentially weakening [the Haqqani Network’s] influence and internal cohesion.”
Yousafzai believes that senior Taliban figures will now limit their public dealings, which will further alienate ordinary Afghans from the Taliban government.
What's Next: In retaliation for the killing, the Taliban government is likely to launch a new campaign against the IS-K, which will disproportionality target Afghanistan’s tiny Salafist community for providing some of the group’s fighters.
The IS-K, however, will be encouraged by the killing and will continue to attack the Taliban, as well as religious and sectarian minorities in Afghanistan, to undermine its rule.
What To Keep An Eye On
The Taliban government has welcomed the initial approval of a proposed Russian law that will pave the way toward removing the extremist group from the Kremlin’s list of terrorist organizations.
“The step represents a great development and is meant to remove obstacles in enhancing bilateral relations,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, on December 11.
Moscow has engaged with the Taliban after its return to power in 2021. But it has been slow in delivering on repeated promises to take the group off its list of terrorist organizations.
Moscow has eagerly courted the Taliban after the Islamist State-Khorasan (IS-K) claimed credit for attacking a concert hall near Moscow. At least 145 people were killed in the attack in March.
The move comes months after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban "a trusted ally" in fighting terrorism in July.
Why It's Important: Like other regional powers, Moscow is keen on engaging the Taliban to prevent itself from terrorist threats emanating from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.
It has consistently dangled the Taliban delisting and recognition of its government as a carrot to encourage the internationally unrecognized Taliban administration to cooperate on its security concerns.
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
Afghan Taliban Minister Killed In Kabul Blast
Khalil Haqqani, the refugee minister in Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration, has been killed in an explosion in the capital, Kabul, two sources from inside the government told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on December 11.
The sources said the blast, which occurred inside the ministry's compound, killed others as well, though no details were given.
Haqqani, the uncle of the Taliban's acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the first senior cabinet member to be killed in an explosion since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as international forces withdrew from the war-torn country.
The United States designated Khalil Haqqani as a global terrorist on February 9, 2011 and had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.
- By RFE/RL's Radio Azadi and
- Will Tizard
Afghan Women Say Ban On Midwife Training Will Mean Health Risks
A Taliban shutdown on midwife and nurse training in Afghanistan has students worried over the health consequences for women. Medical trainees have launched singing protests and taken to social media to decry the latest restriction on Afghan women's education.
Taliban Orders Further Restrictions On Medical Education For Women -- Sources
The Taliban has ordered all private educational institutions in Afghanistan to cease female medical education starting December 3, according to two informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The directive from the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, was announced on December 2 during a meeting of the extremist group's Public Health Ministry in Kabul. The two sources told RFE/RL that the heads of the private medical institutions affected by the order were summoned to the ministry for the announcement. As a result of the order, all institutions offering training in midwifery, dental prosthetics, nursing, and laboratory sciences are now barred from enrolling or teaching female students, the sources said. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.
What Is Behind The Deadly Sectarian Violence In Pakistan?
Pakistan's northwest has been the scene of sporadic bursts of sectarian violence for decades.
In the latest flareup, over 80 people were killed in clashes in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on November 21-23.
The violence erupted when gunmen fired on a convoy of Shi'ite Muslims. The deadly incident triggered retaliatory attacks on the Sunni Muslim community. The sides announced a seven-day cease-fire on November 24.
Troubled History
Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country. But Kurram, a mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, has a large Shi'ite population.
Decades of clashes, often over land, have left thousands of people in Kurram dead. Over 200 people have been killed since July, alone.
Northwestern Pakistan has been a hotbed of militancy for decades. The emergence of Sunni and Shi'ite armed groups in the region has exacerbated sectarian tensions, experts say.
"The rise of militant groups from rival sects has transformed Kurram into a battleground for sectarian dominance," said Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, news director at the Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Shi'a say Sunni extremist groups -- including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State-Khorasan, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi -- are trying to exterminate or expel them from Kurram. Many of the groups have targeted Shi'a, whom they see as apostates.
In some of the worst violence in Kurram in recent decades, around 2,000 people, mostly Shi'a, were killed between 2007 and 2011 when the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, tried to overrun the district.
The Sunni community blames the violence in Kurram on the Zainebiyoun Brigade, a Shi'ite militia made up of Pakistanis who fought in Syria. The group included Shi'a from Kurram, some of whom have returned home in recent years.
Political Marginalization
Experts say the deadly sectarian violence in Kurram is also borne out of weak governance and political marginalization.
Pakistan's border regions -- including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- have been the scene of deadly military offensives against Islamist and separatist insurgencies, and the army has been accused of committing widespread human rights abuses.
The federal government in Islamabad and the powerful military, which has an oversized role in domestic and foreign affairs, have also eroded democratic norms and institutions.
In 2019, Islamabad passed a law that granted security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sweeping powers, including detaining suspects indefinitely or without charge.
Syed Irfan Ashraf, a university lecturer in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said Pakistan's military has tried to enforce an "authoritarian governance model" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
"This governance model is taking a huge toll now," he said.
- By Una Cilic
Violence Against Women, A Crime That Transcends Borders
Violence against women and girls is pervasive across the world, and often underreported.
Rampant physical, sexual, and psychological violence is part of what activists have called a global attack on women's rights.
Nowhere is that more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has erased women from public life and severely restricted their fundamental rights.
Under the rule of the extremist group, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where teenage girls are banned from attending school.
"I wanted to become a doctor and serve my country," Marzieh, a teenaged Afghan girl, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "I studied for nine years, but it was all for nothing. Now, I have ended up staying at home."
No country has recognized the Taliban, which seized power in 2021. But a growing number of countries, including in the West, are cooperating with its government on trade, security-related issues, and immigration.
"If the world can look at what the Taliban are doing to women and girls and shrug and move on and focus instead on partnering with the Taliban on other issues, that says something incredibly damning about how little the rights of women and girls matter to global leaders," said Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).
Under Taliban rule, there has been a surge in forced, early, and child marriages. The United Nations has said child marriages have increased by around 25 percent in the past three years in the country.
Rights groups have said a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and the lack of educational and professional prospects for women have fueled the sharp uptick.
"I was married at 14, and I had my first child at 15," Shazia, a child bride, told Radio Azadi. "It was a daughter. I struggled a lot with her. I never thought I would survive. It was extremely difficult for me."
'Freedom To Choose'
In neighboring Iran, women are banned from many fields of study, sporting events, and from obtaining a passport or traveling outside the country without their husband's consent.
Women who violate the country's Islamic dress code, meanwhile, face fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison.
A growing number of Iranian women have refused to wear the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf, in defiance of the country's clerical establishment.
The hijab is a symbol of women's oppression in Iran, a 20-year-old woman inside the country told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.
"This piece of cloth represents a right that has been taken away from us," she said. "It is the freedom to choose what I want to wear."
The issue of the controversial hijab was central to the unprecedented protests that erupted across Iran in 2022. The demonstrations were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law.
During the protests, women and girls removed and burned their head scarves.
The authorities waged a brutal crackdown on protesters and doubled down on their enforcement of the hijab.
Meanwhile, scores of women in Iran are killed by their male relatives each year -- including their husbands, fathers, and brothers -- in the name of preserving the family's "honor."
According to Stop Femicide Iran, an NGO based in New York, over 150 women were victims of femicide in Iran in 2023.
Political Will
Gender-based violence is pervasive even in countries where women do not face restrictions in their appearances, freedom of movement, and right to work or study.
The UN estimated in 2023 that a woman was killed every 10 minutes by her partner or family member. Almost one in three women experiences violence at least once in her lifetime, according to the world body.
In Kosovo, at least 58 women have been killed in cases of femicide in the past 14 years.
Erona, a 20-year-old, was killed in April, almost a year after she got divorced. Her ex-husband is accused of murdering her.
Erona's mother, Milihatja, believes her daughter suffered years of domestic violence.
"She would come home and tell me that she would never return to him, but something would happen and she would go back," she told RFE/RL's Kosovo Service.
In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a man live-streamed on Instagram the killing of his ex-wife before eventually turning the gun on himself.
The killing in August 2023 triggered shock and outrage, and underscored the issue of violence against women in the Balkan country.
Maida, who lives in the country's northeast, divorced and reported her abusive husband around a year ago.
"He came and grabbed me by the neck. My children saw it and started to cry. I told them ‘I'm OK,' but then he slapped me," Maida told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.
Then, she said, her husband threatened to kill her and their children. "I know what he's capable of, and I decided to go to the police and report him," she said.
Eventually, she managed to get a restraining order. But she still does not feel safe. "He can come at any time of the day and do what he imagined in his head," she said.
Experts say gender-based violence is preventable and addressing the issue often comes down to political will.
"These are not mysterious unsolvable problems -- they just require that governments be genuinely committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and that they put in place the resources, systems, and expertise needed to do so," said Barr of HRW.
Silenced But Not Forgotten: Women Under The Taliban
Millions of women around the world have to fight for basic human rights. In places like Afghanistan, Iran, and the Balkans, the challenges women face vary, but they remain resilient. Under the Taliban’s rule, Afghan women are being erased from public life and denied basic freedoms. Malali Bashir of RFE/RL's Radio Azadi reports.
Freight Train Arrives In Afghanistan From China As Beijing Looks To Increase Ties
The first train carrying goods from China to Afghanistan arrived in Mazar-e Sharif on November 23 after crossing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the de facto Taliban rulers said. The Taliban said 55 containers arrived in Afghanistan after a 22-day journey, marking the inauguration of the first direct train link between China and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The train is expected to take Afghan goods back to China for sale there. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, no country, including China, has formally recognized the extremist group -- which has been accused of massive rights violations -- but Beijing has attempted to increase ties as part of its economic push in the region, including its Belt and Road initiative. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.
The Azadi Briefing: Iran To Deport Afghan Prisoners
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 watching in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
Iran wants to repatriate some 1,000 prisoners to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to serve their sentences there.
"They are costing a lot to the public purse," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmial Baqaei said of Tehran's motive in seeking to return prisoners to Afghanistan.
The comments follow a visit by Iranian government officials to Kabul last week. Deputy Justice Minister Askar Jalalian met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the refugee affairs minister.
The Taliban government has demanded that Tehran hand over all Afghan convicts after Iran Human Rights, a nongovernmental watchdog, said Tehran had so far this year executed 49 Afghans as part of an accelerating trend of executing Afghans since the Taliban's return to power three years ago.
Tehran, however, only wants to hand over Afghans convicted of drug trafficking during the next two months. The transfers will only take place with the prisoners' consent.
Why It's Important: Reports of wrongful convictions and arrests of Afghans have been on the rise as Iran seeks to expel millions of Afghans it says live in the country.
During the past year, many Afghans have complained of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and violence at the hands of Iranian authorities in a harsh crackdown.
According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), Tehran deported more than 550,000 Afghan migrants during the first nine months of this year, from among the estimated 4 million that live in the country.
After the return of the Taliban to power following the collapse of the pro-Western Afghan republic in August 2021, millions of Afghans have sought shelter and jobs in Iran.
International rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Iran of using the death penalty "as a tool of fear" to target "ethnic minorities and political dissidents."
Iran, a leading global executioner, has executed at least 651 people during the first 10 months of this year.
HRW Iran researcher Nahid Naghshbandi said the Iranian courts "are a tool of systematic repression and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless."
What's Next: It is not clear whether the Taliban government will honor sentences by Iranian courts or will free Afghan prisoners once they return to the country.
The Taliban justice system and human rights record do not inspire confidence in the extremist group's capacity to look after the rights of Afghans at home or abroad.
What To Keep An Eye On
Residents of the Afghan capital complain that with the onset of winter, power cuts have made their lives miserable.
In many parts of the crowded city, residents only have electricity for a few hours a day.
"We are miserable because there is no electricity, wood, coal, or gas," Latifa, a resident of the Qala Zaman Khan district in Kabul, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.
Firewood and coal cost upwards of $100 for a week's supply, which is out of reach for most impoverished residents.
Afghanistan imports most of its electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan. This costs the cash-strapped Taliban government $220 million annually.
The Taliban government struggles to collect electricity bills and relies on aggressive power cuts during low electricity supplies in winter.
Why It's Important: Three years after the Taliban's return to power, it has done little to improve electricity supply in the country.
Without investments, aid, and a comprehensive energy policy, Afghanistan relies on expansive energy imports instead of diversifying to green energy sources to tap into the country's abundant wind and sunlight.
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
The Azadi Briefing will next appear on December 13.
Iran Using Executions To Suppress Ethnic Minorities, Rights Group Says
Iranian authorities are using executions as "a tool of fear," particularly directed at ethnic minorities, dissidents, and foreign nationals, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on November 20.
The rights watchdog highlighted a recent surge in capital punishment sentences against these groups, noting that the verdicts are handed down amid rampant violations of due process.
According to Iran Human Rights group, in the first 10 months of this year, at least 651 people were executed in Iran -- 166 people in October alone.
HRW noted the case of Kurdish political prisoner Varisheh Moradi, sentenced to death by Iran’s revolutionary court in Tehran on November 10 on the charge of “armed rebellion against the state."
Moradi, a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan, was arrested in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province in August last year and kept for five months in solitary confinement in the infamous Evin prison where she was tortured. Her family has not been allowed to visit her since May, the group said.
Moradi was not allowed to defend herself, and the judge did not permit her lawyers to present a defense, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported.
“Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials,” said HRW's Nahid Naghshbandi. “This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation,” she said.
Five other Kurdish men were sentenced to death in recent weeks on charges of “espionage for Israel," HRW said.
Four Arab prisoners from Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, are at risk of imminent execution, after being sentenced to death by a revolutionary court with two other individuals for their alleged involvement in the killings of two Basij members, a law enforcement officer, and a soldier.
The four -- Ali Majdam, Moein Khonafri, Mohammadreza Moghadam, and Adnan Gheibshavi (Musavi) -- were arrested in 2017 and 2018, according to human rights groups.
Afghan citizens in Iran have been targeted, in particular, by death sentences, HRW noted, adding that according to human rights groups, at least 49 Afghan nationals have been executed in Iran this year, 13 in the past month alone.
“Iran’s revolutionary courts are a tool of systematic repression that violate citizens’ fundamental rights and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless,” Naghshbandi said.
“The international community should categorically condemn this alarming trend and pressure Iranian authorities to halt these executions,” she added.
Mai Sato, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, has also voiced concern about the "alarming" increase in the number of executions.
"In August 2024 alone, at least 93 people were executed, with nearly half in relation to drug offences," Sato said on November 1.
- By RFE/RL
Afghan Teen Wins Children's Peace Prize For Work Advocating For Girls' Rights
Nila Ibrahimi, an Afghan teenager living in Canada, has been awarded the prestigious International Children's Peace Prize for her efforts in advocating for the rights of girls in her native country. "The young change-maker's courageous efforts to advocate for the rights of Afghan girls has seen her recognized as a true inspiration, offering a message of hope for other young people around the world," the Amsterdam-based organizers said on November 19. Following the return to power of the repressive Taliban extremist group in 2021, the 17-year-old fled the country with her family, first to Pakistan, then to Canada, where she lives now. The Taliban has been assailed by international groups and Western leaders for human rights abuses, especially against girls and women.
- By RFE/RL
Afghan Teacher, Imprisoned Tajik Lawyer Win Prestigious Rights Award
Zholya Parsi, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan, and imprisoned Tajik lawyer Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov have been declared co-winners of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for human rights.
"Two outstanding human rights defenders who have made it their life mission to protect human rights in Afghanistan and in Tajikistan will receive the Martin Ennals Award 2024 on November 21" in Geneva as the award marks its 30th anniversary, organizers said on November 19.
The two "have shown exceptional courage and determination to bring human rights at the forefront despite evolving in deeply repressive environments," the group said.
It is not clear if Parsi would be allowed to travel to the award ceremony, while Kholiqnazarov remains imprisoned in his home country, serving a 16-year sentence.
The jury consisted of 10 leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.
Parsi, a teach from Kabul, founded the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) to protest the return of policies and practices against women's rights and fundamental freedoms following the extremist Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.
The movement quickly grew in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan and now has 180 members and has mobilized communities to resist the Taliban’s policies and practices, organizers said.
Parsi was arrested in the street by armed Taliban members in September 2023 and detained along with her son.
"She was released after three months of torture and ill-treatment under their custody, which further strengthened her resolve to resist Taliban oppression and repression," award organizers said.
Since returning to power, the Taliban has been assailed by international groups and Western nations -- which have not yet officially recognized the extremist group as legitimate rulers -- for human rights violations, especially those against women and girls.
Kholiqnazarov is director of the Lawyers Association of Pamir, one of the few civil society organizations active in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan region.
After mass protests erupted in the region in November 2021 following the extrajudicial killing of Khorugh district resident Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, Kholiqnazarov joined the Commission 44 organization in which members of law enforcement agencies and local civil society representatives joined to investigate the reasons behind the unrest.
But in May 2022, the Tajik authorities renewed their crackdown on protests in the region, leading to the arrest of Kholiqnazarov and a dozen other members of Commission 44.
In December 2022, the Supreme Court sentenced Kholiqnazarov to 16 years in prison after finding him guilty of being part of a criminal organization and of participating in the activities of a banned organization engaged in extremist activities.
Kholiqnazarov pleaded not guilty to the charges.
"We are very proud to honor these two exceptional laureates," said Hans Thoolen, chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury, said.
Attack From Afghanistan Kills Chinese National In Tajikistan, Sources Say
One Chinese national was killed and five others, four of them Chinese, were injured in a cross-border attack in Tajikistan's Zarbuzi Gorge, two sources close to a Tajik investigation told RFE/RL's Tajik Service on November 18.
The incident, which occurred in the southeastern Shamsiddin Shohin district, bordering Afghanistan, has not yet been officially addressed by the Tajik authorities.
According to the sources, the attack was carried out by armed individuals who crossed the border from Afghanistan. It remains unclear whether the attackers were criminals possibly involved in drug trafficking, a crime that is common in the area, or members of a militant group.
"Among the five injured, four are Chinese nationals and one is a local resident. All have been hospitalized in the Shamsiddin Shohin district," one of the sources said.
The Chinese nationals were reportedly working at a gold mine in the Zarbuzi Gorge. The attack marks the first known incident resulting in the death of a Chinese national in the volatile region.
The Shamsiddin Shohin district shares a porous border with Afghanistan that is often crossed by smugglers and militant groups.
Although the Taliban has assured neighboring countries that Afghan territory will not serve as a base for terrorist activities, Tajik authorities have been on high alert in recent years.
The deadly attack underscores persistent security concerns along Tajikistan's southern frontier.
In August 2023, Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security reported killing three members of the banned Ansarullah militant group and seizing weapons in a separate cross-border operation.
These incidents highlight the ongoing threats posed by instability in Afghanistan, despite regional efforts to secure the border.
Afghanistan, One Of The World's Most Vulnerable Countries To Climate Change
As the annual UN climate conference (COP29) takes place in Baku, RFE/RL presents exclusive coverage of environmental issues that are often underreported from regions that are often overlooked.
One of the world’s poorest countries, Afghanistan is also among the leading nations affected by climate change.
Decades of war and environmental degradation have made Afghanistan the fourth most vulnerable country in the world to the impacts of climate change.
Rising temperatures have exacerbated the frequency and severity of natural disasters, including droughts, floods, and landslides, experts say.
Deadly natural disasters in recent years have, in turn, aggravated the devastating humanitarian and economic crises in Afghanistan, where millions are at risk of starvation.
Climate change presents unique challenges to Afghanistan’s population of some 40 million, experts say, with around 80 percent of its people dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.
The collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s seizure of power in 2021 has complicated Afghanistan’s ability to deal with the climate change crisis.
In the wake of the Taliban takeover, international donors immediately halted billions in development aid. International humanitarian assistance, meanwhile, has sharply receded in recent years, partly due to the extremist group’s dismal human rights record.
A Taliban delegation is participating as an observer at the UN Climate Conference in Baku. But the Taliban’s cash-strapped and unrecognized government is unlikely to attract the international assistance needed for Afghanistan to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.
Afghanistan contributes little to global emissions but has experienced rapid temperature rises. Since 1950, its mean temperature has risen 1.8 degrees Celsius, higher than the global average of 1.5 degrees Celsius.
Rising temperatures have “wreaked havoc on agriculture and the agricultural value chain -- the country’s economic backbone,” according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).
WATCH: Grappling with the most expensive electricity prices in South Asia, many Pakistanis are going off-grid and turning to low-cost solar panels from China. But the shift to solar risks creating a new fiscal crisis for the government.
Floods in the spring and summer killed more than 300 Afghans, displaced more than 20,000, and destroyed thousands of homes and hectares of farmland. The UNDP estimates that the floods caused more than $400 million in annual economic losses.
Afghanistan is a major source of fresh water for its neighbors. But climate change has rapidly increased water scarcity by decimating the country's hydrological infrastructure.
UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, estimates that eight out of every 10 Afghans no longer have access to safe drinking water.
More than 64 percent of Afghanistan's population is dealing with drought, pushing an increasing number of Afghans into food insecurity, according to the UN.
Data by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also shows that “climate change is increasingly a trigger for internal displacement as well as migration out of Afghanistan.”
The Azadi Briefing: COP29 Highlights Afghanistan's Climate Woes
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 watching in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
A delegation of Taliban officials is attending the UN climate talks in Baku for the first time since returning to power three years ago.
The unrecognized Taliban government was not invited to the previous three COP meetings in Britain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, despite Afghanistan’s status as one of the nations most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change.
The head of the Taliban’s National Environmental Protection Agency, Matuil Haq Khalis, is seeking international support to mitigate the worst impacts of frequent extreme weather events.
“At COP29, we ask global leaders to respect the challenges faced by vulnerable populations about climate change and climate justice,” he said.
Why It's Important: According to the Inform Risk Index, a global risk assessment of humanitarian crises, Afghanistan is the fourth most at-risk country for a crisis due to climate change.
Despite being one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases, Afghanistan is already undergoing rapid climate change.
According to the UN, the country’s mean annual temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Celsius, “thus intensifying glacier and snow melt, which provide water to rivers during summer.”
With freshwater resources shrinking dramatically, the UN's children's agency, UNICEF, estimates that eight out of every 10 Afghans now drink unsafe water.
In 2022, 64 percent of households reported drought as “the most frequent shock.” Most of the country’s 34 provinces now regularly experience drought, floods, or heavy rainfall.
In spring and summer this year, flash floods killed hundreds and displaced thousands in northern Afghan provinces. Climate change has now overtaken conflict as the leading cause of displacement in the war-ravaged country.
Irregular and severe weather patterns now threaten agriculture and animal husbandry -- the primary sources of livelihood in the Afghan countryside.
What's Next: Without a marked improvement in governance and international recognition, the Taliban is unlikely to partner with the international community to address Afghanistan's looming climate disaster.
The Islamist group’s human rights record and mounting restrictions on women and aid groups already hamper the diminishing humanitarian assistance it receives.
Unfortunately, this approach will deprive some of the most vulnerable Afghan communities from receiving much-needed climate adaptation and mitigation projects.
What To Keep An Eye On
In the latest instance of capital punishment, the Taliban publicly executed an Afghan man at a sports stadium.
On November 13, Muhammad Ayaz Asad was shot dead in the southeastern city of Gardaz. A Taliban court had sentenced him for killing Saif-ul-Qatal, another Afghan man, with a Kalashnikov rifle.
He was killed after the victim’s family refused to accept “diyat,” an Islamic concept in which the victim’s family can pardon the murderer for blood money.
The execution at the hands of the victim's family is part of "qisas," or retributive Islamic punishment for alleged violent crimes.
The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said executions carried out in public “are contrary to Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations and must cease.”
It called on the Taliban to establish an “immediate moratorium on all executions with a view to abolition of the death penalty.”
Why It's Important: Taliban leaders consider capital and corporal punishment a crucial part of their commitment to impose Islamic Shari’a law.
The extremist group has defied international criticism and domestic disapproval by carrying out these punishments publicly.
Such punishments are likely to continue and grow under Taliban rule, even while Afghans see them as part of Taliban oppression.
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
Taliban Carries Out Sixth Public Execution Since Returning To Power
The Taliban on November 13 executed a man convicted of murder in a sports stadium -- the sixth public execution since the radical Islamist group returned to power in 2022.
The execution was carried with a gun fired by a member of the victim's family in the city of Gardez, the capital of the eastern Paktia Province.
The practice of "qisas," or retributive Islamic punishments, which can include public killings at the hands of victims' families, were a trademark of the Taliban's first stint in power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
The Taliban's Supreme Court said in a statement on X that a "murderer was sentenced to retaliation punishment," naming the condemned as Muhammad Ayaz Asad.
Media reports said Ayaz Asad was executed with three bullets to his chest.
The statement said Asad, a native of Paktia's Mirzak district, had killed a man named Saif-ul-Qatal using a Kalashnikov rifle. It was not clear whether Ayaz Asad had pleaded guilty or innocent to the charges.
The death sentence was approved by the Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada following "careful consideration" by three Taliban military courts, it said.
Senior members of the Taliban government, including acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, attended the execution.
Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist group considered one of Afghanistan's most violent factions.
The Taliban has revived the practice of "qisas" since the extremist group's return to power in August 2022 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from the war-wracked country after more than two decades.
In February, three men were executed publicly.
Two, Syed Jamaluddin and Gul Khan, were shot dead inside a soccer stadium in the southeastern province of Ghazni.
At a separate execution, an unidentified man shot Nazar Mohammad inside a sports stadium in the northern province of Jawzjan. The shooter was said to be avenging the death of his brother, Khal Mohammad, two years earlier.
Such practices have been condemned by Afghans and the international community, while experts have questioned their validity under Islamic law, saying they are mainly meant to instill fear.
The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the executions "are contrary to Afghanistan's international human rights obligations, and must cease."
"UNAMA urges Afghanistan's de facto authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on all executions with a view to abolition of the death penalty. We also call for respect for due process and fair trial rights, in particular access to legal representation," the agency said in a post on X.
Turkey Deports 325 Afghan Nationals In 48 Hours
Turkish authorities deported 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, the Taliban's Refugees and Repatriations Ministry said on November 10. According to the ministry, the International Organization for Migration will provide the equivalent of 150 euros to each of the deported migrants. In recent months, Turkey has intensified raids to detain and expel Afghan migrants, most of them undocumented. About 600 Afghan nationals were detained in police raids in Istanbul in September and were transferred to detention centers. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.
- By AP
Taliban To Attend UN Climate Conference For First Time
The Taliban will attend a UN climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country's national environment agency said on November 10. The conference, known as COP29, begins on November 11 in Azerbaijan and is one of the most important multilateral talks to include the Taliban, who do not have official international recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. The National Environmental Protection Agency wrote on X that a technical delegation had gone to Baku to participate. Matiul Haq Khalis, the agency’s head, said the delegation would use the conference to strengthen cooperation with the international community on environmental protection and climate change, share Afghanistan’s needs regarding access to existing financial mechanisms related to climate change, and discuss adaptation and mitigation efforts.
- By AFP
Afghan Women Not Barred From Speaking To Each Other, Says Taliban
Women in Afghanistan are not forbidden from speaking to one another, the Taliban government's morality ministry told AFP on November 9, denying recent media reports of a ban. Afghan media based outside the country and international outlets have in recent weeks reported a ban on women hearing other women's voices, based on an audio recording of the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, about rules of prayer. Ministry spokesman Saiful Islam Khyber said the reports were "brainless" and "illogical," in a voice recording confirmed by AFP.
The Azadi Briefing: What Will Trump's Election Victory Mean For Afghanistan?
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 watching in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
The unrecognized Taliban government in Afghanistan said it wants to open a “new chapter” with the United States following Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election.
In a statement, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said it hoped the “upcoming U.S. administration will take realistic steps to foster tangible progress in the relationship between the two countries.”
During his first stint in power from 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.
The agreement ended America’s longest-ever war. But critics said the accord led to the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power.
During the campaign, Trump defended the 2020 accord as a “very good agreement.” But he blamed President Joe Biden for the deadly and chaotic U.S. military withdrawal in 2021.
Why It's Important: Trump’s return to the White House is likely to have repercussions for Afghanistan, where the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is unfolding.
The United States is the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the country, having provided around $3 billion since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. There has been a major drop in donor funding over the past two years.
“The sharp decline in humanitarian funding seems likely to worsen under a Trump presidency,” said Graeme Smith, senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Hameed Hakimi of Chatham House, a London-based think tank, said Trump could place conditions on U.S. aid, a move that would “increase the financial and humanitarian vulnerability of the Afghan people.”
Experts said it is unlikely that the incoming Trump administration would reverse current U.S. policy by arming anti-Taliban groups inside Afghanistan or recognizing the Taliban’s government.
“The Republicans will do everything possible to keep Afghanistan out of the headlines,” said Smith.
What's Next: Afghanistan is unlikely to be a priority for the Trump administration.
But a major attack on the United States or its allies emanating from Afghan soil could change that.
What To Keep An Eye On
An Indian diplomat traveled to Kabul for talks with senior Taliban officials on November 4-5.
The Taliban’s defense and foreign ministers held meetings with JP Singh, who oversees the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of India’s External Affairs Ministry.
“Both sides declared their common desire” to expand bilateral relations, mainly in humanitarian cooperation, said a statement by the Taliban’s Defense Ministry.
Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the two sides also discussed “how the Chabahar Port can be used for imports and exports.”
Over the past two decades, India has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developing Iran’s southeastern Chabahar Port and built a highway linking it to western Afghanistan.
In March, the Taliban announced that it would invest around $35 million in Chabahar Port, a move aimed at decreasing landlocked Afghanistan's dependence on neighboring Pakistan.
Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan, longtime allies, have deteriorated sharply in recent years.
Why It's Important: Singh’s visit to Afghanistan signals New Delhi’s interest in developing relations with the Taliban.
India was a key backer of the Western-backed Afghan government. But since the Taliban’s return to power, it has signaled a willingness to cooperate with the extremist group.
The Taliban’s tense relations with Pakistan has offered India an opportunity to boost its influence in 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
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