Etilaat-e Ruz, 9 July 2022 During a speech in Kandahar’s in the Eidgah Mosque, Mullah Hebatullah Akhundzadeh, the leader of the Taleban, said a completely Islamic system will be established in the country and all “non-Sharia” laws passed and enforced during the administration of Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani will be abolished.
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RFI, 2 July 2022 A reportage from Eastern Turkey.
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Centre for Artificial Intelligence, Data, and Conflict at Princeton University, June 2022 A new report based on the study of “the activity of 63 accounts claimed by the Taliban leadership, spokespersons, and avowed members from April 1 to September 16, 2021” with more than two million followers in September 2021, and of “the broader Taliban […]
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SIGA, 14 June 2022 A very insightful report from Nuristan by Swiss Franz Marty for the Swiss Institute for Global Affairs, reflecting the still existing diversity even in Taleban-dominated Afghanistan. It shows that even some pre-Islamic institutions of self rule seem to have survived in parts of the province, of course now in ‘Islamic’ disguise.
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The Economist, 20 May 2022 One reason for their success is that they have plenty of experience collecting taxes. During their two decades as a rebel army, they collected traditional tithes, such as oshr, a share of farmers’ harvests, and zakat, religious alms, in areas under their control. (…) Second, the Taliban have kept official revenues flowing. A […]
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RFE, 20 May 2022 An overlooked aspect of the Taleban takeover of power: danger for non-Afghan political refugees to become victims of the regime change.
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The Guardian, 3 May 2022 A pretty unexpected reportage from Kandahar where the human rights NGO Geneva Call holds international humanitarian law courses for young Taleban. One says he has learned there to respect the dignity of prisoners which, he said, he was not aware that this should be done – after 8 years in […]
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Hasht-e Sobh, 17 Hamal 1401 (6 April 2022) Although based on World Bank, UN data and western media reporting, this is an interesting summary as it comes from an Afghan angle.
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Australian Institute of International Affairs, 5 April 2022 Prof. Bill Maley’s commentary, culminating in the following statement: … the invasion of Ukraine arguably reflected […] the failure of general deterrence — that is, the creation through word and deed of apprehension in the mind of an aggressive autocrat that a democratic superpower such as the United States […]
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Chatham House, 16 March 2022 Hameed Hakimi and Oli Brown of this British think tank, in their ‘experts comment’, make a point that is not new, but can’t be reiterated often enough, as this has been thoroughly ignored during 20 years of Western-driven ‘reconstruction’.
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PRIO/CMI, 22 February 2022 Listen to a 90-minutes discussion on Afghanistan, with the following participants and including pre-recorded interviews with two Taleban officials by Terje Watterdal, Norwegian Afghanistan Committee: Timor Sharan, Afghanistan Policy Lab Kate Clark, Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) Arne Strand, Chr. Michelsen Institute (CMI) moderated by Kristian Berg Harpviken, PRIO
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Swiss Institute for Global Affairs, 16 February 2022 An interesting look by Franz Marty at the patchy Taleban policy on drugs – from two hotspots, Bahramchah in Helmand and Memla in Nangrahar.
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