Month: February 2026

Thomas Ruttig, Afghanistan Analysts Network, zum Konflikt mit Pakistan

ARD, 27 February 2026 Watch an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig at Germany main public broadcaster about backgrounds of the Pakistani-Afghan fighting that broke out last week (in German).

27 Feb 2026

Afghanistan sets tougher penalties for animal fights than domestic violence, UN high commissioner says

Sky News, 27 February 2026 This article refers to AAN’s latest unofficial translation of the Taleban’s new penal code: The decree, shared in an unofficial English translation by the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), says that a man who beats his wife enough to cause a visible wound faces 15 days in prison – if she […]

27 Feb 2026

Afghanisch-pakistanischer Konflikt: Kriegserklärung über X

Tageszeitung, 27 February 2026 In this article (in German), AAN’s Thomas Ruttig summarises the last days’e events at the Pakistan-Afghanistan border where border skirmishes escalated into what Islamabad’s defence minister called “open war.” Both sides carried our air raids on each other’s capitals. In this article, the original source of the conflict is addressed: the […]

27 Feb 2026

Talibã: Conheça grupo que governa Afeganistão e vive conflito com Paquistão

CNN Brasil, 27 February 2026 This article about the Taleban, as a party to the current conflict with Pakistan, an older quote (not exactly clear where from) from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is used: At the time, Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network said that the new Taliban leader might be able to “integrate the […]

27 Feb 2026

Taliban-Dekret: Haft für Besuch bei der eigenen Familie?

dpa/Die Presse, 26 February 2026 In this (German-language) article by the German news agency dpa about the Taleban’s new criminal code, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying: For Thomas Ruttig, a long-time Afghanistan expert, the new decree offers insights into the Taleban’s view of the people in their country. The Taleban’s stance, he says, […]

26 Feb 2026

Inside the Islamic Emirate’s Penal Code: Crime, punishment and authority in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

The Islamic Emirate has circulated a new penal code to Afghanistan’s courts, standardising punishments for everything from insulting the ulema to forgery, taking and giving bribes and casting the evil eye. The Code was leaked to the human rights organisation, Rawadari, by someone in the government, presumably concerned about its implications for human rights and the rule […]

26 Feb 2026

AAN’s unofficial translation of the Penal Code for Courts

AAN is pleased to publish a translation of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan’s Penal Code for Courts by Islamic scholar John Butt.* The Code largely deals with what in Islamic law are called ta’zir punishments. These are discretionary, decided on by a judge or ruler, in this case, by the Islamic Emirate’s Supreme Leader, Mawlawi Hibatullah Akhundzada. The bulk […]

26 Feb 2026

For years the Taliban told women to cover up in public. Now they’re cracking down

National Public Radio (NPR), 20 February 2026 In this article on the US public broadcaster about a new wave of Taleban Vice & Virtue crackdown against women in Herat not sufficiently veiled, in their opinion, AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted on the character of Taleban clampdowns reflected here: “The enforcement of vice and virtue rules […]

20 Feb 2026

Forty-Five Days to Spain: One man’s journey from Afghanistan in search of a future

Rohullah Sorush • Roxanna Shapour •

War has shaped the lives of several generations of Afghans, with many pushed to travel beyond the country’s borders, seeking sanctuary or opportunity in more peaceful places. That includes the hundreds of thousands who have embarked on the dangerous journey to Europe. In this instalment of The Daily Hustle, AAN’s Rohullah Sorush hears from one man who […]

19 Feb 2026

AAN’s unofficial translation of the decree on the assets of absentee Afghans and those ‘spreading disorder’

AAN has translated a decree from the Islamic Emirate’s Supreme Leader concerning assets belonging to Afghans who are absent from the country and those who are engaged in ‘spreading disorder’. The decree orders the dissolution of the Directorate of Residential Property Assessment under the Office of Administrative Affairs and tasks the military wing of the Supreme […]

12 Feb 2026

Pollution in Afghanistan: Air, water, waste and noise under weak governance

Mhd Assem Mayar •

Kabul’s winters bring a suffocating haze, as residents burn coal, wood and even plastic to heat their homes and use outdated vehicles, releasing toxic fumes into the city’s dry air. However,  perhaps surprisingly, the worst air quality in Afghanistan is found not in the capital, but in the southwest and north, where dust storms, made worse […]

10 Feb 2026

Germany: Afghanistan’s consulates pose threat to refugees

Deutsche Welle, 1 February 2026 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig was interviewed by German public international broadcaster Deutsche Welle for a report on its website on concerns raised by Afghan refugees over Germany’s accreditation of Taleban officials at Afghan consulates, which many fear will force them to engage with the regime they fled in order to obtain passports and other documents. Ruttig questioned […]

1 Feb 2026