Month: July 2025

Heart-to-heart change in Afghanistan

Christian Science Monitor, 30 July 2025 In this article by the Monitor’s editorial board, arguing that mass charity among Afghans for their compatriots deported en masse from Iran and Pakistan was a sign they were “turning the tables on the Taliban” and, at the same time, “opening doors for dialogue with the Taliban”, there also […]

30 Jul 2025

Iran forcing out Afghans en masse after Israel spying claims

Bloomberg, 28 July 2025 In this article by the international news agency, AAN’s Roxanna Shapour is quoted as saying: While the Iranian government says it’s only deporting Afghans classified as illegal, the Afghan[istan – sic] Analysts Network, an independent research organization, has heard numerous reports of individuals with passports and other legal identity papers being […]

28 Jul 2025

Taliban-Übergriffe gegen Abgeschobene

Tageszeitung, 27 July 2025 In this article for the Berlin-based daily, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig reports the recent UNAMA reports pointing out Taleban human rights violations against Afghans forcibly returned to Afghanistan. He puts this in the context of repeated Taleban assurances, after a recent (second) German deportation flight to Kabul, that their leader’s general “amnesty” […]

27 Jul 2025

Another Drought Year for Afghanistan… But prospects are not as bad as they could be

Kate Clark •

Afghanistan is bracing itself for its fourth drought in five years. For many farmers and herders, the drought is catastrophic: spring rains failed and with them, rainfed wheat and pasture in the rangeland. Even so, agroclimate experts are forecasting a surprisingly positive picture for Afghanistan’s staple crop, wheat. Winter wheat has done well this year, […]

27 Jul 2025

“Menschenrechte gelten auch für Leute, die mir unsympathisch sind”

web.de, 26 July 2025 In this interview with the German news website (in German), AAN’s Thomas Ruttig discusses the latest deportations of Afghans, including criminal offenders, by Germany to the Taleban. He argues that human rights – such as a the protection from torture and other degrading treatment – are also valid for people one […]

26 Jul 2025

Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan: Migrationswende gegen Menschenrechte

Tageszeitung, 25 July 2025 Listen to the German daily’s “Bundestalk” podcast (in German), discussing the following question in this episode: The German government has deported 81 Afghan men, and simultaneously allowed the Taleban to send two consular officials. This brings Germany closer to recognising the Taleban regime than most other European countries. Is the German […]

25 Jul 2025

The Opium Balloon: Taliban Crackdown Moves Opium Market to Pakistan

Talking Drugs, 24 July 2025 In this article on the UK-based online platform dedicated to reporting on the world of drugs, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica is quoted: The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), an independent research organisation focused on Afghan political and social affairs, published a report containing interviews with three Afghan poppy farmers who moved to Pakistan to […]

24 Jul 2025

Living a Mullah’s Life (2): The evolution of Islamic knowledge among village clerics

Sharif Akram •

Over the past four decades much has been written about Afghan mullahs and madrasas. Most commentary has focused on the role they have played in disseminating militancy and jihadism in Afghanistan. This report takes a very different look. It is the second instalment of a two-part mini-series assessing the changing role of rural mullahs, focusing […]

20 Jul 2025

Zurück ins Taliban-Regime: 81 Straftäter abgeschoben

dpa, 18 July 2025 In this summary by the leading German news agency of the latest German deportation flight and the discussion around government attempts to reach a deportation agreement with the Taleban (while it denies more than ‘technical’ contacts with the regime), AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying (in German): «Es ist inzwischen […]

18 Jul 2025

Thousands of Afghans were moved to UK in secret scheme after data breach

BBC, 15 July 2025 The BBC and many British media are reporting that the UK government was forced to speed up the evacuation of thousands of eligible Afghans, many of them still in the country, after a February 2022 data leak that might have reached the Taleban but was kept secret until yesterday. “Personal details […]

15 Jul 2025

Erneut Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan

Tageszeitung, 13 July 2025 In the Berlin-based daily newspaper, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig describes (in German) how the German government is planning a second direct deportation flight to Taleban-ruled Afghanistan (a first one took place last August under the predecessor government) and is holding dozens of Afghans with – partly extensive, partly less – criminal records, […]

13 Jul 2025

The Taliban are still targeting former members of the previous government and armed forces

Afghan Hindsight, 10 July 2025 An overview by Tim Foxley, using UN, ACLED and other material.

10 Jul 2025