Mustafa Sarwar is a senior news editor for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, one of the most popular and trusted media outlets in Afghanistan. Nearly half of the country's adult audience accesses Azadi's reporting on a weekly basis.
Internal rifts in the Taliban have come out into the open in recent weeks, in rare displays of disunity. Experts say it exposes an intensifying power struggle in the secretive armed group.
A former British diplomat and NATO representative in Afghanistan says he is not optimistic about the situation in the war-torn country as its Taliban leaders continue to restrict rights and freedoms, especially for women.
Welcome back to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. I'm Mustafa Sarwar, a senior news editor at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.
Some Afghan political figures and ex-officials have returned to their homeland after promises of amnesty from the Taliban. But many of the returnees have left again over their disillusionment with the Taliban and fears for their safety.
The Taliban this week ordered the closure of all teacher-training centers across Afghanistan, in a move that is likely to see around 6,000 instructors lose their jobs.
Also: Iran warns Afghans over hijab law
Also: Deadly clashes between Iran and Taliban
The latest floods are likely to exacerbate the devastating economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, where millions are on the verge of starvation.
Also: The Taliban’s use of corporal punishment
In the latest blow to education in Afghanistan, the Taliban this week suspended the activities of hundreds of community-based schools in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand that were run by foreign NGOs.
Since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in 2021, there have been mounting reports of infighting within the militant group.
The Taliban warned private universities in Afghanistan on January 28 that female students were banned from taking university entrance exams scheduled for later this month.
The killing of Mursal Nabizadah, one of the few former lawmakers to remain in Afghanistan after the Taliban seized power, highlights the hard-line Islamic group's difficulties in maintaining security as well as the extreme hardships it has imposed on women.
Pakistan and the Afghan Taliban engage in a war of words over growing cross-border attacks, Iran plans to offer scholarships to female Afghan university students, and the Taliban intensifies its assault on women’s rights.
The Taliban has banned women from attending university in Afghanistan, the militant group has renamed a northern city, and survivors of a deadly Taliban raid last month have demanded justice.
The head of a U.S. government watchdog says he is concerned that money sent by the United Nations to Afghanistan for humanitarian and economic aid will end up in the hands of the Taliban government.
The Taliban has been accused of forcibly evicting hundreds of people from their homes in the northern province of Baghlan, the scene of deadly clashes between the militants and resistance forces.
The Taliban Defense Ministry says it has created at least five military units in Afghanistan's north and west, bordering Central Asia. Taliban officials insist the move is aimed at strengthening security in those areas and will contribute to regional stability, but not everyone is so sure.
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