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

Flash floods caused by spring downpours have wreaked havoc in most provinces in Afghanistan.

The Taliban said at least 103 people were killed and over 60 injured in floods and heavy rains between March 21 and April 29.

The downpours have also damaged thousands of houses, while over 100,000 acres of farmland have been destroyed.

“Snow and hail have ruined my apricot, apple, and cherry trees,” Sayed Gul Badshah, a farmer in the central province of Maidan Wardak, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Saed Akbar, a farmer in eastern Nangarhar Province, said heavy rain and hail have "utterly wrecked" his wheat and vegetable crops.

In the northern Faryab Province, farmer Abdul Qureshi said floods "washed away" scores of houses in the district of Pashtun Kot.

After a prolonged dry spell in autumn and winter, Afghanistan and its neighbors have been witnessing unusually heavy rains and snowfall in the spring.

Why It's Important: Afghanistan is one of the most vulnerable countries to climate change.

Experts say climate change has worsened the frequency and severity of extreme weather events -- from droughts and heat waves to floods and storms – around the world.

Afghanistan’s ability to adapt and difficulties in attracting international aid under the unrecognized Taliban government are seen as major obstacles to dealing with the situation.

Extreme weather conditions have exacerbated the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan, the world’s largest.

What's Next: There are signs that the international community is responding to the crisis by empowering local Afghan communities to combat climate change.

But it is unclear if the initiatives will help mitigate against large-scale natural disasters caused in part by climate change.

Deadly floods and extreme drought in recent years have uprooted millions of Afghans, some of whom have been forced to flee abroad.

What To Keep An Eye On

Reporters Without Borders (RSF) has expressed alarm about the situation of scores of exiled Afghan journalists who are staying in neighboring Pakistan.

Celia Mercier, head of RSF's South Asia desk, on April 30 urged the Pakistani authorities and international community to help protect Afghan journalists who fled their homeland for fear of retribution by the Taliban.

Mercier told Radio Azadi that Afghan journalists living in Pakistan “should be able to utilize their journalistic skills” or be allowed to move to a third country willing to host them.

Most of the nearly 200 journalists fled after the Taliban’s return to power in 2021 and are now waiting to be relocated to Western countries.

RSF said that the journalists lack access to education, health care, and employment.

Mohammad Idris Sadat, one of the stranded journalists, said many are suffering from "mental health problems because they face uncertainty" as their immigration cases are taking too long.

Why It's Important: After returning to power, the Taliban has attempted to erase the once vibrant Afghan media landscape.

Fear of reprisals by the group has forced hundreds of reporters and media workers to flee the country. Those remaining have faced beatings, arrests, and harassment.

Hundreds of print and electronic media outlets have been either shut down by the Taliban or closed due to a lack of funding.

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.

Suppression of press freedom rose over the past year in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, where governments with increasingly authoritarian tendencies have followed Russia's example of stifling and punishing free speech, media watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF) said.

Highlighting the situation in in its annual media world ranking, published on May 3, RSF noted the worsening media situation in Belarus, where strongman Alyaksandr Lukashenka's regime persecutes reporters under the excuse of fighting “extremism”; Georgia, where the government has been pushing "foreign agent" legislation modeled on a Russian law, despite massive public protests; and in Kyrgyzstan.

"Media censorship has intensified in a spectacular mimicry of Russian repressive methods," RSF said.

Belarus dropped 10 positions to 167th in the world, while Georgia, at 103th, fell a whopping 26 places.

RSF said Russia, which ranked 162nd out of 180 countries, has continued its campaign against independent journalism, using the “foreign agent” or “undesirable” legislation to arbitrarily imprison remaining journalists as more than 1,500 have left the country since the start of the war. RFE/RL journalist Alsu Kurmasheva and Evan Gershkovich of The Wall Street Journal are currently imprisoned in Russia.

Azerbaijan fell 13 places to 164th mainly due to the authorities' crackdown on the media before its presidential election, RSF said.

The report pointed to the deteriorating situation in Serbia -- down seven positions to 98th place -- as an example of the Kremlin's long reach.

Press outlets affiliated with the pro-Russian government of Serbia relayed Moscow's propaganda, while anti-war Russian journalists who found refuge in Serbia after Moscow's invasion of Ukraine are being threatened with expulsion.

RSF notes as a positive development the 18-place jump made by Ukraine due to what it says are improvements in the security and political indicators. Political interference in Ukraine has fallen, with the country being currently ranked 61st, the report said.

In Eastern Europe, the report notes a "dangerous trend" by some governments to stifle independent journalism, which RSF calls "Orbanization," after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban. Orban, in power since 2010, has been accused of muzzling the free press. Hungary is currently in 67th place.

In Slovakia, ranked 29th, the situation is also deteriorating under Russia-friendly Prime Minister Robert Fico, RSF says.

In Central Asia, Turkmenistan, where independent reporting is completely banned, is listed 175th, while Kyrgyzstan is listed 120th.

Afghanistan, where the persecution of journalists has been "incessant" since the return of the Taliban to power in 2021, three journalists were killed and at least 25 were detained over the past year. Afghanistan dropped 26 places to 178th out of a total of 180 countries in the index.

Afghan journalists are forbidden from broadcasting or publishing stories that are critical of the Taliban.

Reporters who cross that red line have been arrested and jailed, beaten in custody, or threatened and harassed.

But journalists don't just face restrictions on which issues they can cover. They are also severely limited in how they report stories and who they can interview.

Women and girls are banned from appearing on TV or radio programs. Male reporters, meanwhile, are barred from interviewing women and vice versa.

This is what it is like to be a journalist in Afghanistan nearly three years after the Taliban seized power. The militants have transformed the once-vibrant media landscape in the war-torn country, where censorship is now rife and dissent has been largely stamped out.

"It is impossible to be a journalist under the Taliban," a female reporter based in central Afghanistan told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

The reporter, like others interviewed for this story, spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution.

'Red Lines'

After regaining power in 2021, the Taliban initially promised to allow a free press. But its hard-line government soon waged a violent crackdown on independent media.

Scores of reporters and media workers have been imprisoned or physically attacked. The Taliban has shut down dozens of media outlets. Hundreds of journalists have fled the country out of fear.

Only a few independent media outlets still operate under the Taliban. But their journalists face severe restrictions and often resort to self-censorship.

Covering issues like "insecurity, human rights, and corruption" are off-limits, said a Kabul-based editor who works for a major broadcaster.

Taliban officials often instruct journalists to "report only on issues" that put them in a more positive light, the editor said.

The Taliban has also told broadcasters not to interview ordinary Afghans on the streets in a bid to prevent criticism of the group.

"We are also not allowed now to invite Afghans living abroad to participate in programs," the editor said. "It is forbidden to include the views of the Taliban's opponents."

A reporter based in northern Afghanistan says he tried to investigate reports of alleged sexual abuse in Taliban-run madrasahs, or Islamic seminaries, and the Taliban’s decision to award lucrative mining contracts to state-run companies. But he dropped the stories for fear of reprisals.

"Such issues are completely off-limits," he told Radio Azadi.

'I Can't Go Out'

The Taliban’s restrictions on the media have disproportionately affected women.

The militants have imposed severe restrictions on women's appearances, freedom of movement, and right to education and work.

"I can't go out now and report," said the female reporter based in central Afghanistan, adding that she is barred from interviewing men and cannot travel far from home without a male chaperone.

Another female reporter from central Afghanistan says she was called in for questioning after reporting on a protest by women against the Taliban's repressive policies.

"I was asked why I report on such issues," she told Radio Azadi. "They asked me, 'Are you against the government?'"

She says the officials threatened her and said she would face "serious consequences" if she reported on any unsanctioned rallies again.

In broadcast media, there are even more restrictions.

Female TV presenters have been forced to wear a black robe and head scarf with only their eyes visible.

TV and radio stations have been banned from broadcasting female voices and accepting call-ins from women.

Growing Censorship

The Taliban's crackdown on journalists appears to be intensifying.

In recent months, the militant group has imposed new restrictions on female journalists' appearances, banned some women from accessing radio and TV programs, and prohibited the filming or photographing of Taliban officials.

SEE ALSO:

The Azadi Briefing: Taliban Deals Another Blow To Afghan Media

On April 22, three radio journalists were detained in the southeastern province of Khost after they allegedly aired music and received calls from female listeners during broadcasts. They were all released on April 28.

The Taliban suspended the operations of two private TV stations based in Kabul on April 17 for violating "national and Islamic values."

The Taliban has issued "11 rules for journalists" that prohibit the publication or broadcasting of reports that are "contrary to Islam," and which discourage the reporting of news that has not been confirmed by Taliban officials.

The Taliban's message in clear, said a print journalist based in Kabul: Do not publish or broadcast "anything critical of the government."

The Kabul-based editor says the Taliban's ongoing persecution and harassment of journalists are forcing more journalists to abandon their professions or flee their homeland.

"Everyone I know just wants to escape abroad," they said.

Seven people were killed in an attack on a Shi'ite mosque in Afghanistan's Herat Province late on April 29. Media reported that the attack took place at the Imam Zaman mosque in the Guzereh district of Herat. Among the dead are the imam of the mosque, a child, and five adult worshipers, reports said. No further details were immediately available. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

A nationwide polio vaccination campaign started on April 29 in Afghanistan, Taliban authorities announced. The Taliban-run Health Ministry said the four-day campaign will cover 31 of Afghanistan's 34 provinces, while immunizations will start later in the remaining three -- Ghor, Daikundi, and Bamyan -- due to heavy rains and cold weather. Besides vaccines, children will also receive doses of vitamin A to increase their resistance to the infectious disease, the ministry said. Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only countries in the world where polio has not been completely eradicated. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

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

The Taliban has abolished the pension system in Afghanistan, which is gripped by a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis.

The move has triggered protests by retirees who say they cannot survive without state assistance.

Scores of retired civil servants and retired members of the armed forces staged a rally in Kabul on April 20. The protest was dispersed by the Taliban.

"We are just trying to claim our rights," Aafandi Sangar, the head of the Afghan Pensioners Association, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "We are miserable because we have not received any payments for nearly three years."

An estimated 150,000 pensioners received a monthly payment of around $100 from the state before the Taliban seized power in 2021. Retirees say they have not been paid their pensions since then. Many of the pensioners served governments that had fought against the Taliban.

In early April, the Taliban's spiritual leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, ordered his government to stop deducting retirement contributions from the salaries of civil servants, effectively dismantling the pension system. Akhundzada suggested that the system was "un-Islamic."

Why It's Important: The Taliban's decision to scrap pensions threatens the future of tens of thousands of current government employees.

The group's refusal to pay pensions since 2021 has also pushed many retirees and their families deeper into poverty. The decision this month dashed their hopes.

"How will we live now?" asked one retiree, speaking to Radio Azadi. "We used our pensions to provide for our families."

The Taliban has repeatedly promised to build a welfare state in Afghanistan. But the group's decision to scrap pensions suggests that it is unlikely to fulfil its pledges.

What's Next: The Taliban leadership has vowed to create a "pure" Islamic system in Afghanistan.

The group has used religious justification to scrap the pension system. Pensions involve interest, which the Taliban has said is forbidden under Islam.

The group's extremist interpretation of Islamic law is likely to continue shaping the decisions of its government.

What To Keep An Eye On

A senior cleric who was believed to be a close aide of the Taliban's spiritual leader has been killed in neighboring Pakistan.

Mullah Mohammad Omar Jan Akhundzada was shot dead in Quetta, the capital of Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan Province, on April 18.

The chief Taliban spokesman, Zabihullah Mujahid, said his death was an "irreparable loss."

Local police said the cleric possessed Pakistani citizenship and had lived in Quetta for many years.

Many Taliban leaders were believed to have lived in Quetta, near the Afghan border, during the group's nearly 20-year insurgency against Afghan government forces and international troops.

Why It's Important: Akhundzada's mysterious killing has raised questions.

Some have speculated that the Pakistani authorities could have been behind it.

Islamabad and the Taliban were close allies for decades. But the sides have fallen out in recent years, with Pakistan accusing the Taliban of sheltering the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, an extremist group that has waged a deadly insurgency against Islamabad for years.

Islamabad has tried to use pressure tactics, including the mass deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan, to change Taliban policy, according to observers.

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.

Rights watchdog Amnesty International has warned that world order is under threat amid a wave of international rule breaking, deepening global inequality, superpower rivalries, and accelerating climate change.

The group said in its annual report on the state of global human rights, released on April 24, that the world is "reaping a harvest of terrifying consequences" from the pressures of escalating conflict and "a near breakdown" of international law, with advances in artificial intelligence likely to exacerbate the situation.

Amnesty said its report "presents a stark assessment of the betrayal of human rights principles by today’s leaders and institutions," and that in the face of multiplying conflicts, "the actions of many powerful states have further damaged the credibility of multilateralism and undermined the global rules-based order first established in 1945."

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"Alongside Russia's ongoing aggression against Ukraine, the growing number of armed conflicts, and massive human rights violations witnessed, for example, in Sudan, Ethiopia and [Burma] – the global rule-based order is at risk of decimation," said Amnesty Secretary General Agnes Callamard.

The report noted that the war in Ukraine, launched by neighboring Russia in February 2022, was another key contributor to the decline in the global human rights situation.

Amnesty called out indiscriminate attacks by Russian forces "on populated areas and civilian energy and grain export infrastructure."

"Both Russian and Ukrainian forces used cluster munitions despite their inherently indiscriminate nature and lasting risks for civilians," the report reads.

The report pointedly criticizes the United States for its "brazen use" of its veto power to "paralyze" the UN Security Council for months as it tried to mediate a halt in fighting between Israel and Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by Washington and the European Union, in the Gaza Strip.

SEE ALSO:

U.S. Report Highlights Worsening Human Rights Abuses In Russia, Iran, Afghanistan

It also slams the "grotesque double standards" of European countries such as the United Kingdom and Germany, given their "well-founded protestations" about war crimes by Russia and Hamas, while they simultaneously bolster the actions of Israeli and U.S. authorities in this conflict.

The violence erupted after Hamas launched an attack on Israel on October 7 that killed some 1,200 people, mostly citizens, while around 240 others were taken back to Gaza as hostages. Since then, an Israeli offensive aimed at neutralizing Hamas has killed almost 35,000 people, according to the Hamas-led Health Ministry in Gaza.

“The confounding failure of the international community to protect thousands of civilians -- a horrifically high percentage of them children -- from being killed in the occupied Gaza Strip makes patently clear that the very institutions set up to protect civilians and uphold human rights are no longer fit for purpose. What we saw in 2023 confirms that many powerful states are abandoning the founding values of humanity and universality enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” Callamard said.

Russia has continued to show blatant disregard for human rights both in its unprovoked war against Ukraine and in the treatment of its own citizens over the past year, the U.S. State Department has said in its latest annual report on human rights around the globe, which also highlights the abuses committed by Iran's theocratic regime and the Taliban's mistreatment of Afghans -- especially its discrimination against women and girls.

Russian troops continued to commit numerous abuses and atrocities, some amounting to war crimes, the report says, highlighting the issuance by the International Criminal Court of arrest warrants for Russian President Vladimir Putin and his children's rights commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, for their role in the forced deportation of Ukrainian children to Russia.

"There were credible reports of summary execution, torture, rape, and attacks killing and injuring civilians and damaging or destroying civilian infrastructure by Russia's forces in Ukraine, as well as war crimes, including those involving forced deportation or transfer of civilians, and the forced placement in foster care or adoption of Ukrainian children," the report notes.

SEE ALSO:

Genocide Scholar: 'I Do Think That Russia's Violence In Ukraine Is Genocidal'

At home, Russian authorities continued to step up the pressure on dissent and independent expression, imprisoning political opponents and anti-war protesters, clamping down on the media, prosecuting numerous people for expressing their opinions online, and forcibly closing down nongovernmental organizations.

More moves were made to persecute opposition politicians such as the sentencing of Vladimir Kara-Murza to 25 years in prison on charges including treason and the slapping of an extra 19 years for "extremism" on the already imprisoned Aleksei Navalny, who subsequently died under suspicious circumstances in February in a penitentiary in Russia's Arctic region.

"Tragically, as we saw with Aleksei Navalny's unjust imprisonment in a Russian penal colony, incarceration can come with horrific conditions -- with abuse, even death," Secretary of State Antony Blinken said on April 22 while presenting the report.

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The Big Chill: Critics Say Kremlin Waging A War On Ideas

The report also highlights a multitude of other human rights abuses committed by Russian authorities on Russia's territory and abroad, such as, but not limited to, arbitrary or unlawful killings, including extrajudicial killings; enforced disappearances; pervasive torture or cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment by the government; harsh and life-threatening prison conditions; arbitrary arrest or detention; and serious problems with the independence of the judiciary.

Harsh Punishments Meted Out In Iran

Brutal human rights abuses continue to take place and even worsen in Iran, where women and members of marginalized communities bear the brunt of the regime's human rights violations and abuses, the report says, highlighting the harsh punishment meted out to prisoners, including executions, for bogus or unjust reasons.

"Women continued to face discrimination, including through enhanced means for enforcing the mandatory dress code, which led to acts of civil disobedience," the report says, adding that many people have reportedly disappeared during extended protests that were triggered by the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini in the custody of morality police in September 2022.

The number of executions was up by more than one-third last year compared to 2022, with 798 people being put to death, some of them political dissidents.

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Executions In Iran Drive Global Death-Penalty Spike

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"The government often charged political dissidents with vague crimes, some of which carried the death penalty, such as 'antirevolutionary behavior,' 'corruption on earth,' 'siding with global arrogance,' 'waging war against God,' and 'crimes against Islam,'" the report notes.

The Iranian regime is also guilty of serious violations outside its borders, which include enabling abuses by terrorist groups throughout the region by the Syrian government, Iran-aligned militia groups in Iraq, and Yemeni Huthi militants, as well as the unlawful recruitment or use of child soldiers, the document said.

Systemic Mistreatment, Discrimination In Afghanistan

In Afghanistan, the Taliban has resorted to systemic mistreatment of and discrimination against Afghanistan’s women and girls since it returned to power in August 2021 following the hasty withdrawal of U.S.-led forces.

"In Afghanistan, the Taliban have limited work opportunities for women, shuttered institutions found educating girls, and increasing floggings for women and men accused of, quote, 'immoral behavior,' end quote," Blinken said.

The report says Taliban authorities have issued more than 50 pieces of legislation "that effectively erase women from public life."

SEE ALSO:

Taliban Returns Its 'Eye For An Eye' Justice To Afghanistan

The Taliban authorities have shown continuous and widespread "disregard for the rule of law and official impunity for those responsible for human rights abuses," the document says, adding that both the Taliban and their current arch-foe, the Islamic State group, have been using child soldiers.

Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid on April 23 pushed back against the criticism, emphasizing the Taliban's commitment to upholding Shari'a law, which he argued defines and guarantees the rights of Afghan citizens based on their wishes.

"The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan has a Shari'a and Islamic obligation to give the rights of its citizens," Mujahid said on state-controlled RTA Radio. "When America or other Western countries talk about rights, they should not impose Western culture on other countries. What is defined as rights in America may not be the same in Afghanistan."

Referring to the ongoing war in Gaza that was triggered by an October 7 attack on Israel by Hamas, which has been designated a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, the report notes "serious abuses...by Hamas and Israel."

It says those abuses include unlawful or widespread civilian deaths and harm, enforced disappearances or abductions, torture, as well as "violence or threats against journalists."

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

As part of its widening crackdown on the media, the Taliban’s hard-line government has shut down two television stations.

On April 16, the media complaints commission within the Taliban's Information Ministry ordered the immediate suspension of the broadcasts from the Noor and Barya channels.

Commission members said the stations were shut for "violating Afghan and Islamic values and journalistic principles.”

A Taliban court will now decide whether the suspension can be lifted or turned into a permanent ban.

Jamiat-e Islami owns Noor TV, while Hizb-e Islami runs Barya. Both are leading Islamist groups who have opposed the Taliban. These stations ran Islamic programs.

Since it emerged as a ragtag militia in the mid-1990s, the Taliban has opposed and fought against the two groups, which it held responsible for the vicious civil war following the demise of Afghanistan’s pro-Soviet socialist government in 1992.

Why It's Important: The ban is a clear manifestation of the Taliban’s intent to outlaw media that does not conform to its Islamist ideology and worldview.

With the suspension of the stations, the Taliban is indicating that there is no space even for media outlets that are ostensibly Islamic and which cannot be accused of immorality or debauchery.

"This is worrying,” Samia Walizadeh, the head of the Afghanistan Journalists Center (AFJC), an independent media watchdog, told RFE/RL'S Radio Azadi. “The reasons given by the [Taliban] commission for suspending the broadcasts of these two media outlets are unacceptable."

Saddiqullah Tohidi, a press freedom activist, agreed. He said that the Taliban closed the two stations without even bothering to first prove their accusations.

“In a country that lacks a constitution, how can you prove a violation of national interests and Islamic principles?” he asked. “Afghanistan has turned into one of the most censored nations.”

What's Next: The Taliban is forging ahead to create a media environment that only reflects its views and serves its interests.

The extremist Islamist group ultimately aims to replace all journalism with propaganda. It attempts to achieve this by closing or outlawing independent Afghan media and discouraging or banning international press outlets from covering Afghanistan.

Fading international interest in the country provides a more conducive atmosphere for the Taliban to achieve its ideological goals.

What To Keep An Eye On

Statistics issued by the Taliban-led government show a drop in Afghanistan's exports and an increase in imports.

On April 16, the Taliban’s National Statistics and Information Authority released figures showing a nearly 20 percent decline in exports in the first three months of this year -- to $134 million from $176 million during the same period last year.

The country’s imports, however, surged from $694 million during the first quarter of last year to $793 million this year.

A recent World Bank report on the Afghan economy recorded similar trends.

Experts attribute the decline to the Taliban’s tense relations with neighboring Pakistan, which is one of its leading trading partners. Islamabad also provides ports to the landlocked nation.

"Pakistan closed its border crossings while pomegranates and other fruit crops were ready for export," said Khan Jan Alakozai, a senior official of the Afghanistan-Pakistan Joint Chamber of Commerce.

He said coal prices also plummeted in the same period, impacting Afghanistan's export earnings.

Why It's Important: Afghan macroeconomic trends might continue to deteriorate if the Taliban's relations with Pakistan do not improve.

Tehran's ongoing standoff with Israel threatens the alternative import route the Taliban wants to build through Iran.

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

Two Afghan television channels have been taken off the airwaves for "violations against Islamic and national values," a spokesman for the Taliban-led government said on April 18. Rights monitors warn that the Taliban authorities have been cracking down on media freedoms since their return to power in 2021 as they enforce an austere vision of Islamist rule. Culture Ministry spokesman Khubaib Ghufran said the Barya and Noor TV channels had been suspended on April 16 for failing to abide by "journalistic principles." "They had programs creating confusion among the public and their owners are abroad," he told AFP. "The media violation commission suspended their operations."

Many in Iran are worried about the prospect of a war with Israel and the possible impact on the country’s faltering economy.

That includes members of Iran’s large community of Afghan refugees and migrants, one of the most vulnerable groups in society.

Experts have warned that a full-scale war is a possibility in the wake of Iran’s unprecedented attack on Israel on April 13.

Afghans in Iran, speaking to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, described a wartime atmosphere in Iran since Tehran’s first-ever direct attack against Israel.

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They also said the authorities have intensified their crackdown on undocumented Afghans, many of whom fled war, poverty, and persecution in Afghanistan.

"This situation is alarming for all Afghan migrants in Iran," said Omid Poya, an exiled Afghan journalist living in Iran. "Those who don’t have legal documents [to stay in Iran] don’t even leave their houses anymore.”

An Afghan migrant, who spoke on condition of anonymity for fear of retribution, said “Iranian cities are in an emergency-like situation” since the April 13 attack, referring to the deployment of additional law enforcement officers on the streets. This, he said, has “forced many of us to worry about our future.”

An estimated 4.3 million Afghans currently live in Iran, according to the UN. More than 1 million have been deported in the past year as part of Tehran’s plan to expel all undocumented Afghans.

Afghans suffer widespread abuse and discrimination in Iran, where they have often been blamed for insecurity and unemployment.

Life More Difficult

Many Afghans are worried that a possible war between Iran and Israel will worsen the already dire economic situation in the Islamic republic, which has witnessed soaring inflation, rising unemployment, and growing poverty in recent years.

Following Iran’s April 13 attack, the national currency, the rial, plummeted to a new record low against the U.S. dollar.

That has had a direct impact on the livelihoods of Afghans and how much money they can send back to their families in Afghanistan.

"Life has become more difficult after the dollar rose against the Iranian currency," said Azizgul Afghan Beg, an Afghan living in Tehran. "Our main concern is where we will escape if a war breaks out here.”

An estimated 70 percent of the estimated 3.6 million Afghans who have fled their homeland after the Taliban seized power in 2021 moved to Iran.

Afghans, including journalists, activists, and former soldiers and police officers, said they fear being forced to flee Iran and return to their homeland.

“Our lives will be in danger," Qadariah Rezaei, said an Afghan rights campaigner residing in Iran. Afghans would pay a “heavy price” if Tehran becomes embroiled in a conflict with Israel, she said.

Other Afghans say they are contemplating returning to Afghanistan.

"It is better to return to our homeland because of the mounting worries over war and the sharp slump in employment,” said Shamsul Rahman, an Afghan living in the southeastern city of Kerman.

Written by Abubakar Siddique based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi.

Around 70 people have been killed by heavy rains lashing Afghanistan over the past five days, the government's disaster management department said on April 17. Afghanistan was parched by an unusually dry winter, which desiccated the earth, exacerbating flash flooding caused by spring downpours in most provinces. Disaster management spokesman Janan Sayeq said "approximately 70 people lost their lives" as a result of rains between April 13 and April 17.

Flash flooding caused by heavy rains has destroyed hundreds of homes and killed at least 33 people over the past three days in the Afghan capital, Kabul, and across the country, the de facto Taliban rulers said on April 14. "Unfortunately, 33 people have been martyred and 27 injured as a result of the floods, while approximately 606 houses have been destroyed in villages," Taliban spokesman Mullah Janan Sayiq said. A resident of the village of Bast in Helmand Province who did not want to be identified told RFE/RL that "the floods have destroyed our agricultural lands and houses, our animals have been destroyed. Our area is between two rivers." To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.

Facebook users in Afghanistan fear the Taliban's plans to block or restrict access to the popular social-media platform will deal a death blow to what is left of free speech in the country.

It is unclear what exactly the "finalized" policy announced last week will entail or how it will be implemented and enforced, but Afghans are bracing for the worst-case scenario.

"This is really the last nail in the coffin of freedom of speech," Fatema, a Facebook user in Afghanistan, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

"Facebook was the only source where most of the news that is censored in the Afghan domestic media was published without censorship," she said, providing only her first name due to fear of retribution from the Taliban's hard-line Islamist government.

In announcing the impending move to counter what it called the distracting influence of social media, the Taliban cited the need for young people to focus on their education.

"Our youth are in a situation where they are academically weak and the majority of them are illiterate, yet they continue to waste their time and spend money on these things to the benefit of the company and the detriment of the nation," Najibullah Haqqani, the Taliban's minister of telecommunications and information, said in an interview with the private Tolo News channel on April 6.

Facebook has emerged as a major social-media platform in Afghanistan, with an estimated 4.5 million users in the country of some 40 million people. Many rely on Facebook for unfiltered information and, particularly for women and girls, to continue their pursuit of an education denied to them by the Taliban.

WATCH: Two exiled Afghan women have told RFE/RL that the Taliban appears to be further tightening restrictions on women and girls in Afghanistan.

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Afghan Exiles Say Taliban Tightening Restrictions On Women

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Media watchdogs say that any effort to curtail access to Facebook would have a devastating effect in an already heavily censored media landscape.

"The Taliban's plan to restrict or block access to Facebook would be a further blow to freedom of information in Afghanistan," Beh Lih Yi, Asia program coordinator for the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), said in a statement. "Social-media platforms, including Facebook, have helped to fill a void left by the decline of the Afghan media industry since the Taliban's August 2021 takeover and the ensuing crackdown on press freedom."

The CPJ statement said that when questioned, Taliban spokesman Zabihullah Mujahid told the U.S.-based media watchdog that "Facebook will not be banned, but restrictions will be imposed on it."

In any event, the CPJ said, the proposal "highlights the worsening censorship by the Taliban."

The Taliban's Telecommunications and Information Technology Ministry did not respond to questions from Radio Azadi asking for specifics about the new policy and when it will come into force.

Since regaining power, the Taliban has reversed the free-media gains that were made after the first Taliban regime was ousted by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001.

Despite its early promises to protect the independent media, the Taliban has waged a violent crackdown on dissent. Television and radio stations have encountered sustained pressure to end entertainment and educational programming that does not fit with the hard-line leadership's strict interpretation of Islamic law. Female television presenters are required to wear face masks on air and are barred from conducting interviews with male government officials or from participating in press conferences without a male chaperone.

Women and girls have meanwhile seen their access to education severely impeded, again despite the Taliban's early pledges. Girls are not allowed to attend school past the sixth grade, while women have been banned from going to university.

Female teachers are barred from teaching male students, and encounter difficulties leaving their homes for work at all due to the Taliban's restrictions on women being in public without a male escort.

With many teachers and journalists fleeing the country due to the obstacles to their work, many Afghans turned to inclusive radio and television programs that provided students a lifeline to continue their studies and for unrestricted media and discussion of social issues. Facebook, by providing access to outside news and educational courses often catered to women and girls, became a crucial tool.

The Taliban has already taken steps to curtail traditional media from continuing with such programming. In February, for example, police in the eastern Khost Province banned girls from contacting local radio and television stations and warned such outlets against taking calls from girls.

SEE ALSO:

Afghan Girls Banned From Contacting Media In Eastern Province

The Taliban cited the potential for such outreach to promote "inappropriate behavior" among audiences as justification for the move, which was enforced with warnings of punishment and shutdowns against media that did not comply.

Now the Taliban appears to have focused its attention on Facebook, which hosts a wealth of pages dedicated to women's rights and education, Afghan news and society, and allows for discourse among users.

Spozhmai Gharani, a Facebook user, said the social-media platform is one of the few ways for Afghan girls to continue their education, and "should not be shut down."

Homa Rajabi, from Kabul, said that without the ability to share views and collect information on Facebook, life in Afghanistan "will become more limited and narrow."

Kamal Sadat, who served as a deputy minister of information and culture in the previous, Western-backed government, told Radio Azadi that any restrictions on Facebook would be a "strong blow to freedom of expression."

The move, he said, would cut the Afghan people off from a crucial and increasingly rare way to "express their voices to the world, Afghan authorities, and international organizations."

Facebook has blacklisted the Taliban for years, and since the militant group took power in 2021, the platform has reportedly maintained a loose ban on Taliban content. References and posts that promote the Taliban are removed, while official Taliban posts that serve the public good, such as the de facto Health Ministry's directives related to natural disasters, have been allowed.

Asif Ashna, a frequent critic of the Taliban's unrecognized government, took to a social-media platform that the Taliban itself relies on heavily to promote itself to air his criticism of the new policy. Ashna suggested that the Taliban may have targeted Facebook in retaliation for restrictions the U.S.-based social-media company has placed on its content.

"Why is this ignorant group hostile to Facebook?" Ashna asked in a post that included a clip of Haqqani's Tolo News appearance. "The bottom line is that Facebook has blocked thousands of official and pseudonymous accounts related to the Taliban and put this group on its blacklist."

"Now the Taliban has decided to do the same thing to Facebook," Ashna wrote. "The rest of the arguments [made by the Taliban for targeting Facebook] are bullshit."

SEE ALSO:

Taliban Closes Education Ministry Department, Creating Uncertainty For Thousands

Whether the Taliban can actually succeed in banning or curtailing Facebook is open to debate.

Experts say that the Taliban does not have the technological infrastructure in place to cut Afghanistan off from the global Internet and force its citizens to use a domestically designed "intranet," as Iran and China have attempted to do.

"No, never. They cannot do that," Jamil Nematyar, a cybersecurity expert who worked for the former Afghan government told Radio Azadi in a video interview. "It is not possible for them. The existing infrastructure is not capable of this."

Instead, Nematyar and other experts say the Taliban must rely on pressuring private companies to enforce any policy decisions or laws that would target Facebook.

The Taliban's control over the country's telecommunications infrastructure does give its government leverage in this regard by forcing mobile telecoms operators or Internet service providers (ISPs) to block specific websites, and by filtering the domain name system (DNS) that determines specific Internet protocol (IP) addresses.

"It is common to use the worldwide web to control the flow of information" in Afghanistan, Agha Malok Sahar, founder of Darrak, a GPS tracking and software company that works in Afghanistan, told Radio Azadi.

There is precedent for banning foreign news outlets in the country, including the websites of Radio Azadi, the Afghan service of the congressionally funded RFE/RL. But as CPJ notes, the Facebook pages of Radio Azadi and other foreign news outlets such as Britain's BBC and Germany's Deutsche Welle are still accessible to readers inside the country despite being officially banned.

Sahar said that in the event of a complete ban, the Taliban authorities could also go after individuals and media outlets that are active on Facebook by "monitoring their activities, potentially harassing or penalizing them."

Such an approach, Sahar said, could "involve arrests or other forms of intimidation to discourage the use of Facebook" and be accompanied by Taliban propaganda efforts "to discredit these outlets or individuals."

But restricting or outright banning Facebook would be a tough task for the Taliban. "This would be a difficult law to actually enforce," Darren Linvill, co-director of the U.S. Clemson University's Media Forensics Hub, told RFE/RL in written comments.

"There are a large range of ways individuals have to skirt such restrictions. Any teenager can learn to pretend their computer is somewhere in the EU so that they can get different options out of Netflix," he said. "China has difficulty enforcing the Great Firewall. I'm sure Afghanistan would face similar problems."

Elsewhere around the world, people have found a workaround to local restrictions by using virtual private networks (VPNs) that allow users to mask the area or country they are in.

Ultimately, Nematyar said, "people will go to VPNs and it will make more headaches for the nation and the current regime" in Afghanistan.

"Facebook will be working, through VPNs," Nematyar said, although Afghans' use of the social-media platform might be closely followed by the Taliban authorities.

Written by Michael Scollon based on reporting by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi

Ahmad Hanayesh, a freelance journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, sustained injuries in an attack by unknown gunmen in Islamabad on April 3. Pakistani police said that they are investigating the incident. One of Hanayesh's relatives told Radio Azadi that three armed men on a motorcycle attacked the Afghan national as he was returning home from a walk in the Pakistani capital. Hanayesh, who is in stable condition, worked as a reporter with Radio Azadi for several years before leaving the country for neighboring Pakistan, where he has since worked as a freelance journalist. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

Amnesty International has urged Pakistan to halt expelling hundreds of thousands of Afghan girls and women to neighboring Afghanistan.

“The deportation of Afghan refugees from Pakistan will put women and girls at unique risk,” Amnesty's South Asia Office wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on March 27.

The global rights watchdog's plea comes ahead of the beginning of a new phase of the expulsion of Afghan refugees from neighboring Pakistan. Islamabad plans to force some 850,000 documented Afghan refugees back to their country next month if they don't leave voluntarily.

SEE ALSO:

Pakistan's Campaign To Expel Millions Of Afghan Refugees Enters Second Phase

Since October, Pakistan has already expelled more than 500,000 Afghans who lacked proper documents to stay in the country.

“Forced returns seriously curtail their rights to education, work, movement, and in some cases, expose them to imminent threat of violence,” Amnesty said.

“The Government of Pakistan must halt all deportations and take affirmative measures to ensure the safety of refugee women and girls,” it added.

After returning to power in August 2021, the Taliban’s ultraconservative Islamist government n Afghanistan has banned teenage girls and women from education. It also prohibited women from employment in most sectors.

SEE ALSO:

Afghan Women, Girls Face Grim Future After Expulsion From Pakistan

Afghan women must also wear a niqab -- a strict head-to-toe veil -- in public. Taliban restrictions have severely curtailed women’s mobility by requiring them to be accompanied by a male chaperone outside their homes. Women are also banned from leisure activities, including visits to parks.

“Women and girls will experience serious repression of their rights to education, work, freedom of movement and more if deported,” Amnesty said.

The new warning comes two days after Amnesty called in a new report on Islamabad to reverse forced expulsions of all Afghans.

The report, Pakistan: Human Rights Charter, issued on March 25, asked Islamabad to protect all at-risk "refugees in compliance with Pakistan obligations under the principle of non-refoulement."

Non-refoulement is a fundamental principle of international law that prohibits a state from returning asylum seekers to a country where they would face persecution based on their race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion.

Pakistan lacks a domestic law that offers a path to refugee status. It is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the 1967 protocol intended to remove constraints on who can be considered a refugee.

Since its emergence a decade ago, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) militant group has largely focused its attacks on Afghanistan and Pakistan.

But IS-K, the Afghanistan branch of Islamic State (IS), has carried out an increasing number of mass-casualty attacks outside its stronghold in South Asia in recent years, including in Iran and Russia.

Experts say the deadly attack on a concert venue outside Moscow on March 22, which was widely blamed on IS-K, shows the affiliate’s growing capabilities and ambitions, as well as its leading role in the umbrella organization.

“This branch has become the spearhead, the leading internationally minded branch of the Islamic State,” said Lucas Webber, co-founder and editor of MilitantWire.com.

Webber said IS’s central leadership in Syria and Iraq has had to “focus more on survival, regrouping, and reconstituting its capabilities and its networks” after the group was largely defeated and dismantled by a U.S.-led coalition in 2019.

“It’s essentially become the parent organization of the IS franchise,” said Webber, referring to IS-K, which first appeared in Afghanistan in late 2014, the same year that IS seized large swaths of Syria and Iraq and declared a self-styled caliphate.

IS also has branches in the Arabian Peninsula, Africa, Southeast Asia, and the Caucasus.

External Operations

As well as continuing to carry out attacks in Afghanistan and Pakistan, IS-K appears to have shifted its focus to external operations in recent months.

In January, IS-K was blamed for killing more than 90 people in Iran’s southern city of Kerman, the deadliest attack in the Islamic republic in decades.

On March 22, gunmen stormed the Crocus City Hall concert venue in the Moscow region, killing at least 139 people, in Russia’s worst terrorist violence in two decades.

IS claimed responsibility for the attack. U.S. officials specifically blamed IS-K, while Moscow attributed the attack to Islamic extremists without mentioning the IS affiliate.

IS-K on March 25 threatened to carry out more “massacres” against Russia. Moscow has targeted IS militants in Syria and Africa and forged ties with the Taliban government, a fierce rival of IS-K in Afghanistan.

Webber of MilitantWire.com said IS-K poses a rapidly growing threat to the West. “For the foreseeable future, this seems to be an indication of things to come,” he said.

General Michael E. Kurilla, head of the U.S. military’s Central Command, told lawmakers on March 21 that IS-K “retains the capability and the will to attack U.S. and Western interests abroad in as little as six months with little to no warning.”

Law enforcement in Europe have uncovered several IS-K plots in recent years.

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Why Would Islamic State Attack Russia?

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German police on March 19 said they had arrested two suspected IS-K supporters. They were accused of plotting to attack the Swedish parliament.

In July, police in Germany and the Netherlands arrested nine people who they said were in contact with IS-K.

During the past year, the group has threatened to carry out attacks in Sweden, the Netherlands, and Denmark after cases of Koran burnings in those countries.

'Loose Network Of Cells'

After its emergence, IS-K initially captured small pockets of territory in eastern and northern Afghanistan as part of IS’s broader aim of expansion throughout South and Central Asia.

But IS-K was driven out from its territorial strongholds around 2019 after coming under increasing fire from Afghan and international forces as well as the Taliban. Since then, IS-K has embarked on a new strategy of urban warfare.

“We are witnessing a new phase of the Islamic State-Khorasan,” said Riccardo Valle, the co-founder of The Khorasan Diary, an online platform that tracks militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

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Images taken as four Tajik men suspected of committing the Crocus City Hall shooting near Moscow were apprehended in western Russia on March 23 are starkly different from how the men appeared -- battered and bruised -- in court the following day.

He said IS-K has evolved from a group aiming to seize territory like a “traditional army” to a “loose network of cells, which tends to carry out more lethal attacks.”

IS-K is made up of Afghan and foreign fighters. In a report published in June 2023, the UN Security Council said the number of IS-K militants in Afghanistan ranged “from 4,000 to 6,000,” including family members. Some experts estimate that the number is much lower.

Sara Harmouch, a terrorism and defense policy expert in Washington, said IS-K’s focus on asymmetric warfare instead of territorial control has enabled the group to adapt to local conditions and withstand counterterrorism operations.

“This flexibility could make IS-K a more dynamic and resilient leader within the IS network, capable of navigating post-caliphate era complexities,” she said.

Harmouch said IS-K’s ability to carry out high-profile attacks outside Afghanistan and Pakistan has raised its profile and indicated its expanding capabilities.

“This visibility could position IS-K as a leading figure within the broader IS network, especially in attracting recruits and resources,” she said.

Scores of people were killed after gunmen stormed a concert venue in the Moscow region in what was the deadliest attack in Russia in decades.

The March 22 attack was claimed by the Islamic State (IS) militant group. U.S. officials said a regional branch of IS -- Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) -- was behind the incident.

Based in Afghanistan, IS-K has previously targeted the Russian Embassy in Kabul and threatened to carry out attacks inside Russia.

When Did IS-K First Emerge?

IS-K was founded in Afghanistan in late 2014, the same year that IS overran large swaths of Iraq and Syria and declared a self-styled caliphate, or a state governed by Islamic law. IS was later defeated by a U.S.-led coalition.

IS-K initially captured small pockets of territory in eastern and northern Afghanistan as part of IS’s broader aim of expansion throughout South and Central Asia. Khorasan refers to a historical region that comprised parts of modern-day Afghanistan, Iran, and Central Asia.

But IS-K began withdrawing from its territorial strongholds in Afghanistan around 2019 after coming under increasing fire from Afghan and foreign forces as well as the Taliban, a rival militant group. IS-K then embarked on a new strategy of urban warfare.

Where Are IS-K Fighters From?

IS-K was founded by disgruntled members of the Afghan Taliban, the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan, and Al-Qaeda who declared allegiance to IS.

Over the years, IS-K’s ranks have been further boosted by local recruits and foreign fighters, particularly those from the former Soviet republics of Central Asia.

In a report published in June 2023, the UN Security Council said IS-K fighters included citizens of Pakistan, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkey, Russia, Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and a small number of Arab fighters from Syria who had traveled to Afghanistan.

The UN Security Council said the number of IS-K militants in Afghanistan ranges “from 4,000 to 6,000,” including family members. Some experts estimate that the number is much lower.

What Attacks Has IS-K Carried Out?

IS-K has carried out attacks against Afghan and international forces as well as the Taliban. It has also targeted Afghanistan’s religious minorities.

The group carried out one of its most high-profile attacks -- the killing of 170 Afghan civilians and 13 members of the U.S. military at Kabul's international airport -- in August 2021 as foreign troops pulled out of Afghanistan.

SEE ALSO:

'Credible Threats' Against Kabul Airlift Persist After Deadly Bombing, Pentagon Says

After the Taliban seized power that month, IS-K has since targeted Taliban officials, foreign nationals and embassies, Afghanistan's Shi’a Hazara community, and others it considers incompatible with its own extreme interpretation of Islam.

On March 21, IS-K claimed responsibility for an attack outside a bank in Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar that killed at least 21 people, most of them Taliban employees.

SEE ALSO:

Deadly Suicide Bombing Strikes Outside Bank In Kandahar As Taliban Employees Wait For Pay

The group has also launched cross-border attacks. In January, IS-K was blamed for killing more than 90 people in Iran’s southern city of Kerman, the deadliest attack in the Islamic republic in decades.

SEE ALSO:

Islamic State Claims Deadly Blasts In Iran As Tehran Says Suspects Arrested

Experts said IS-K has remained a resilient force despite hundreds of its fighters being arrested or killed by the Taliban since 2021.

“IS-K is probably the most active and potent of all of the regional affiliates of Islamic State today,” said Michael Kugelman, the director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson’s Center in Washington.

Why Would IS-K Attack Russia?

In September 2022, IS-K claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing outside the Russian Embassy in Kabul that killed at least six people, including two employees of the embassy.

The attack did not surprise observers, who said IS had long threatened to carry out attacks inside Russia.

SEE ALSO:

IS Claims Responsibility For Deadly Suicide Attack Outside Russian Embassy In Kabul

Lucas Webber, co-founder and editor of MilitantWire.com, said IS had named Russia alongside the United States early on as a primary enemy.

“This was only intensified in 2015 when Russia intervened militarily in Syria to support the government,” he said, referring to Moscow’s backing of President Bashar al-Assad in the Syrian civil war.

“And it continued to intensify after Russia's various military and private military contractor interventions across Africa,” during which IS fighters were targeted, he added.

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Experts said Moscow’s support of the Taliban could have also motivated the attack.

Russia, like the rest of the international community, does not recognize the Taliban government and officially considers the hard-line Islamist group to be a terrorist organization. But Moscow on multiple occasions has hosted Taliban officials and maintained an embassy in Kabul.

Reid Standish and Neil Bowdler contributed to this report.

Afghanistan's Taliban rulers have issued a stark condemnation of the March 22 attack on a Moscow concert venue that left at least 115 dead and wounded more than 100 others. The Taliban Foreign Ministry "condemns in the strongest terms the recent terrorist attack in Moscow... claimed by Daesh & considers it a blatant violation of all human standards," ministry spokesman Abdul Qahar Balkhi wrote on X, formerly Twitter, referring to the Islamic State (IS) extremist organization by its Arabic acronym. IS has staged frequent attacks in Afghanistan since the return of the Taliban to power in 2021. On March 21, IS claimed an attack that killed 19 Taliban employees outside a bank in Kandahar. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

Amid escalating tensions between Islamabad and Kabul, Pakistan's defense minister has warned Afghanistan's Taliban rulers that his country could block a corridor it provides to allow trade with India.

Khwaja Asif said that Islamabad could block access to its western neighbor Afghanistan through its territory that allows goods to flow into its eastern neighbor India if the Taliban government fails to rein in the Pakistani Taliban, formally known as the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP).

"If Afghanistan treats us like an enemy, then why should we give them a trade corridor?" Asif told Voice of America on March 20.

Tensions between Islamabad and Kabul are running high after the Taliban said it retaliated against Pakistani air strikes that killed eight people, including two children, on March 18. Over the past two decades, Islamabad has repeatedly closed trade routes and border crossings with Afghanistan to pressure Kabul whenever tensions spiked in their bilateral relations.

Islamabad said it targeted a hideout of the TTP, which it blames for mounting attacks on its forces. Pakistan says the TTP is using the Afghan side of the mountainous border region to launch such strikes.

The corridor allowing goods to flow between Afghanistan and India has become an important economic pillar for Kabul.

According to the World Bank, Kabul's trade with India increased 43 percent to $570 million last year, while its trade with Islamabad has shrunk from more than $4 billion a decade ago to less than $1 billion.

Given the growing importance of the corridor, threats of a possible blockade was met with anger and resentment in Afghanistan.

"Their policy has always been harmful to Afghanistan," Ahmad Khan Ander, an Afghan military expert, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "[Pakistan] has never been a friend of Afghanistan."

Ghaus Janbaz, an international relations expert, told Radio Azadi that Islamabad wants to shift the blame to Afghanistan instead of focusing on its domestic crises.

"[The Pakistani government] wants to show that the violence is coming from elsewhere, when all the violence is coming from within Pakistan," he said.

As part of pressuring the Taliban, Pakistan is set to force some 850,000 documented Afghan refugees back to their country next month if they don't leave voluntarily.

According to reports in Pakistani media, the expulsions, the latest in an ongoing campaign of forced deportations, are scheduled to begin on April 15.

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 deadly suicide bombing struck Afghanistan’s southern city of Kandahar on March 21.

The attack outside a bank killed at least 21 people and wounded around a dozen others, hospital sources in the city told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Taliban officials put the death toll at three.

The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist group, a rival of the Taliban, claimed responsibility for the attack.

Many of the victims appeared to be people queuing outside a branch of the New Kabul Bank in central Kandahar to collect their salaries.

Why It’s Important: The high-profile attack undermined the Taliban’s claim that it has restored security in Afghanistan since seizing power in 2021.

“Such acts also took place under the previous government and it was a disaster,” said Gul Ahmad, whose brother was killed in the attack, referring to the Western-backed Afghan government.

“Now similar attacks happen, too. I request and I beg the current [Taliban] government to bring security to the country,” Ahmad told Radio Azadi.

That IS-K managed to carry out a major assault in the heart of Kandahar, the de facto capital of the Taliban government, is also a blow. The Taliban’s spiritual leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, is based in the city.

The suicide bombing has also highlighted the enduring threat posed by IS-K, which continues to carry out attacks against the Taliban and religious minorities.

What's Next: The Taliban is likely to continue to be the target of attacks by IS-K as well as several resistance groups that have waged a low-level insurgency against it.

IS-K has been weakened by years of fighting with the Taliban, but it poses the biggest threat to its rival.

What To Keep An Eye On

The new school year officially began in Afghanistan on March 21. It is the third school year in a row that teenage girls were barred from returning to their classes.

Many girls across Afghanistan lamented the education ban on girls above the sixth grade, which was imposed in March 2022.

Niayesh, who was in the eighth grade when the Taliban seized power, said she is dismayed at the ongoing ban.

"I'm disappointed," Niayesh told Radio Azadi. “I still want to go to school just like my brother.”

Bahar, who is now in the sixth grade, expressed optimism. “I hope all schools will open so that we can study until the 12th grade," she said.

Why It's Important: The Taliban appears unlikely to reverse its restrictions on female education, despite condemnation inside and outside Afghanistan.

The Taliban’s repressive policies have threatened to make its government an international pariah.

The militant group is unlikely to gain international recognition without reversing some of its most draconian policies, including its ban on teenage girls attending school and women going to university.

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

Please note that the next newsletter will be issued on April 19.

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.