Month: November 2025

Claimed by Gunfire: How a single shot stole an Afghan girl’s future

Hamid Pakteen • Roxanna Shapour •

In parts of southeastern Afghanistan, a boy seeking to force a girl into marriage may fire gunshots outside her home to claim her publicly as his future wife, often after the girl’s family has refused his proposal. The shots are a signal that the girl now belongs to him – regardless of her wishes or […]

23 Nov 2025

پاسخ منفی تویوتا به طالبان

[Toyota’s negative response to the Taliban] BBC Dari, 22 November 2025 The Taleban planned to replace the Afghan police’s main personnel carrier – the US-produced Ranger pick-up (sanction make it difficult to obtain spare parts) – by another brand, and turned to Toyota. The reply was negative: Toyota’s official representative in Afghanistan, Habib Gulzar Motors, […]

22 Nov 2025

The Conversation: From the morality police to suspected UK war crimes

Kate Clark • Rachel Reid • Roxanna Shapour •

AAN authors discuss three in depth reports: Kate Clark on what has changed in the year since the introduction of the ‘Vice and Virtue’ law in Afghanistan, Roxanna Shapour discusses a survey on men’s views about the restrictions on women and finally, Rachel Reid gives a glimpse into her forthcoming report on alleged war crimes […]

17 Nov 2025

Defeat – Norway in Afghanistan 2015–2021

Afghanistan Commission (Norway), 10 November 2025 The summary of the second Norwegian independent commission evaluating Norway’s civilian and military engagement in Afghanistan, this time in the period 2015–2021, building on the first commission’s report about the … period. The new report was presented to the ministries of foreign affairs and defence on 6 November and […]

17 Nov 2025

Are blood feuds on the way out? A special report from Khost province  

Rachel Reid • Sharif Akram •

Blood feuds have long been a feature of Afghan society, claiming countless lives and perpetuating conflict that sometimes spans generations. In recent decades, however, this has shifted, particularly as a young Afghans have begun to question tribal traditions. Original research by AAN’s Sharif Akram in Khost province suggests that this shift in social norms springs […]

11 Nov 2025

2025 winter crop mapping for Afghanistan, including poppy

@mansfieldintinc, 24 October 2025 David Mansfield’s summary of ALCIS’s “2025 winter crop mapping for Afghanistan, including poppy” – we link David’s X threat instead of the original report. While the latter, at least in its headline’s suggests a ‘growth in poppy’, David differentiates: the poppy cultivation area in Afghanistan extended by more than 50 per […]

11 Nov 2025

The Islamic Emirate and the (Other) Authoritarians: Afghanistan-Central Asian relations since 2021

Letty Phillips •

Since the Taliban’s return to power, they have invested heavily in building diplomatic relationships with the five states of Central Asia — Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Under Republic-era governments, Central Asian governments – avowedly secular in outlook since they became independent nations – frequently sounded warnings over the threat that Islamic extremism posed […]

11 Nov 2025

»افغانستان امن نیست»

نهادهای مدنی مونیخ خواهان رسیده‌گی به وضعیت پناه‌جویان شدند [‘Afghanistan Is Not Safe’: Munich Civil Groups Urge Action on Asylum Seekers’ Situation] Hasht-e Sobh, 19 Aqrab 1404 (10 Nov. 2025) AAN’s co-founder and former co-director Thomas Ruttig is quoted here as saying: توماس روتیگ، بنیان‌گذار و مدیر پیشین «شبکه تحلیل‌گران افغانستان (AAN)، چشم‌انداز سیاسی و […]

10 Nov 2025

The battle for the borderlands: The Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan challenges the state’s control

ACLED, 6 October 2025 An analysis by the Uppsala-based conflicts monitors of ACLED of Pakistan’s Taleban movement, the TTP, which it says is gaining strength again, making it “one of the biggest national security threats in Pakistan.” Valuable context for the unresolved conflict between the Afghan Taleban and Pakistan that had recently flared up again. […]

10 Nov 2025

A New Accountability Mechanism for Afghanistan: What the IIM-A can (and cannot) do

Ehsan Qaane •

The United Nations is creating an Independent Investigative Mechanism for Afghanistan (IIM-A) which will collect evidence of war crimes and other grave violations of international law. The new UN body will investigate, preserve and analyse evidence, creating case-ready files that prosecutors can use in multiple jurisdictions. Its mandate is not time-limited, covering past, ongoing and […]

5 Nov 2025