Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Taliban

Taliban

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 […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Afghan Women Spoke: A People’s Tribunal listened

Rachel Reid •

Afghan women may have been silenced in their own country, but in December 2025, they were given a very public platform to tell the world about life under the Taliban – The People’s Tribunal for the Women of Afghanistan. The tribunal took place in Europe, but Afghans were able to watch the hearings via satellite […]

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What Afghans May Read: Banned books under the Islamic Emirate

Fabrizio Foschini •

In 2025, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan intensified its efforts to circumscribe the information available to Afghan citizens, following its October 2024 order to libraries and bookstores to remove books that were now prohibited. In July 2025, a special committee was set up to scrutinise university curricula. It subsequently abolished whole courses and removed hundreds […]

Political Landscape Read more

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 […]

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The Turbaned Traders: The Taliban take over the urban economy

Sharif Akram •

After the Taliban seized power in 2021, many of the movement’s fighters and supporters migrated from their rural strongholds into Afghanistan’s urban centres to assume control of the government and the cities. This marked a major shift following two decades of insurgency, when the Taliban and many of their supporters were unable to access urban […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

The Conversation:  Authors discuss a selection of AAN’s best reports

Kate Clark • Rachel Reid • Roxanna Shapour •

Every month AANCast dives into some of our longer reports, to give you a flavour of our more in-depth reporting, in discussion with a range of authors. This month, we’re looking at the International Criminal Court issuing of arrest warrants for two of the leaders of Islamic Emirate for the international crime of gender persecution, […]

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The Daily Hustle: How to get a national ID card in Afghanistan if you’re a Kuchi

Roxanna Shapour •

The Daily Hustle is our series of first-person accounts by one Afghan about one aspect of their daily life. On our website, you can find stories such as the girl who was so appalled by madrasa education, she persuaded her family to set one up for girls, the labourer and his wife taking in a […]

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Losing His Immunity: Former Afghan MP Haji Zaher extradited to US on drug charges

Rachel Reid •

In this episode we look at the dramatic fall of Haji Abdul Zaher Qadir, once a powerful Afghan commander and politician, now facing drug trafficking charges in the United States, after being arrested at a hotel in Nairobi, Kenya, in April 2025. Haji Zaher, as he’s best known, was a prominent police commander and parliamentarian […]

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The Daily Hustle: Afghans flee the Iran-Israel war

Roxanna Shapour •

As the conflict between Israel and Iran escalated, many Afghans who had been living in Iran opted to return to Afghanistan, fearing for their safety. The Iranian government’s current drive to deport Afghans had already accelerated the pace of ‘returns’. However, for Afghans who had lived through years of conflict in their own country, the […]

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The Daily Hustle: A home school for girls is shut down 

Hamid Pakteen • Roxanna Shapour •

 Today’s Daily Hustle features a young woman who we last heard from in June 2023 when she was running a home school for girls in her village. Now, a year and half later, she has been ordered to close it. Even before the fall of the Islamic Republic, many Afghan girls had no access to education – whether […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Birds of a Feather, in Ideology: What is the relationship between the Islamic Emirate and Hamas?

Thomas Ruttig •

Before the 7 October 2023 attacks by Hamas on Israel and Israel’s continuing war in Gaza, the relationship of the Islamic Emirate towards Hamas could be described as cordial, but not actively supportive. AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (with input from Roxanna Shapour) wanted to look at whether this standpoint has changed since those attacks. By combing […]

Regional Relations Read more

America Decides: But will who wins the US election make any difference to Afghanistan?

Kate Clark •

Afghanistan has barely featured in next week’s United States presidential elections except in the most minor way, as a political football kicked about by the two candidates seeking to blame the other for the debacle of the 2021 withdrawal and the Taleban’s capture of power. Even so, will who wins the 5 November election – […]

International Engagement Read more

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