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 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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]

The Azadi Briefing will next appear on January 10.

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 [email protected]

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 [email protected]