Abubakar Siddique, a journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, specializes in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan.
The Taliban has been accused of forcibly displacing hundreds of ethnic Uzbek and Turkmen residents in Afghanistan's northern province of Jowzjan. Ethnic Uzbeks and Turkmen say Pashtun nomads have seized their homes and land with the help of the Taliban, a predominately Pashtun group.
Afghan women are turning to a new form of protest -- staging events inside their homes to press for their rights under the new Taliban regime. The move comes after the militants violently cracked down on female protesters in Kabul, including beating and detaining women.
In this week’s Gandhara Briefing, we bring you insights on the growing exodus from Afghanistan, why PTM leader Ali Wazir is still in prison, and why there is little hope for the rule of law after the Taliban overhauled the Afghan judiciary.
The family of an Afghan man has accused the Taliban of torturing and killing him after he criticized the militant group in a recent Facebook post. Since seizing power in August, the Taliban has been accused of carrying out hundreds of extrajudicial killings.
The Taliban's repressive rule and the worsening economic and humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan is driving thousands of people to flee the country every week. Many Afghans are making the perilous journey westward through Iran, from where some hope to reach Europe.
Afghans say Taliban fighters are stopping people in public and searching their smartphones. Residents who spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi said they were beaten or harassed after the militants discovered music or videos on their devices.
There are fears over the safety of a Kabul University professor after he criticized the Taliban on TV. During a live debate, the professor condemned the Taliban's monopoly on power and called a Taliban spokesman stupid, in remarks that went viral.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the environmental catastrophe Afghanistan faces because of global warming, the impact of the country’s unfurling economic crisis, and how women activists are calling out diplomats and aid workers for meeting the Taliban in male-only meetings.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the Taliban’s elite suicide units, Pakistan’s secret negotiations with the TTP extremists, and why an increasing number of Afghan women are experiencing mental ailments.
During its insurgency, the Taliban trained hundreds of suicide bombers to carry out attacks against foreign forces and the Western-backed Afghan government. Now, after seizing power, the militant group is finding a new use for its suicide bombers.
This week's Gandhara Briefing offers you insights on the Taliban's misappropriation of aid, the growing economic and political turmoil in Pakistan, and China's approach to Afghanistan. Please subscribe and help us spread the word.
Afghans have accused the Taliban of misappropriating the foreign aid that is trickling into the country. The allegations come amid a devastating humanitarian crisis and economic collapse in Afghanistan.
This week's Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the Taliban's war against Salafists in Afghanistan, Pakistani protests against rising prices, and why Russia is edging toward recognizing the Taliban-led government.
The Taliban is waging a deadly crackdown on members of Afghanistan's small community of Salafists, an ultraradical Islamic sect. The move comes as fighting intensifies between the Taliban and its rival, Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) militants, many of whom are Salafists.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the unfolding new war in Afghanistan, the Taliban’s reprisal killings and forced disappearances, deteriorating women’s rights, and why some Afghans are turning to “music-less songs” amid a Taliban ban on music.
Pakistani Prime Minister Imran Khan is facing criticism for claiming that Pashtuns, the country’s largest ethnic minority, are sympathetic to the Taliban.
The Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) militant group has intensified its attacks against the Taliban, its rival, since the latter seized power in Afghanistan. Experts say the escalating violence between the two militant outfits marks the start of a new phase in the country’s decades-old conflict.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing looks back at the 20 years of the U.S. war on terror in Afghanistan. It brings you insights on the plight of Afghan minorities and Afghanistan’s weary neighbors carefully watching how the Taliban treats the militants threatening their security.
Twenty years after the United States attacked Al-Qaeda and its Taliban hosts in Afghanistan, Washington's war in the country may be over but the global terror network is seen as capable of rebuilding its Afghan sanctuary now that its allies are back in power.
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