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.
Locals in northwestern Pakistan, where the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan extremist group is seeking to reclaim its former strongholds, say it has imposed extortion, banned music, and shut down some girls’ schools.
The Taliban’s leader seldom leaves the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, which has become the de facto capital under the militant group’s rule.
Experts say the attacks highlight the growing strength of the Baloch Liberation Army, which has expanded its recruitment efforts and gained access to modern weapons.
Despite domestic and international criticism, the Taliban is unlikely to reverse its education bans
The Taliban has formally codified into law a long set of rules governing morality. The new law, which consists of 35 articles, imposes sweeping restrictions on women's movement and behavior and stipulates that men must attend prayers and grow beards.
In August 2021, a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport killed 170 Afghans and 13 U.S. soldiers, in one of the deadliest attacks of the entire 19-year U.S.-led war. The attack became a grisly symbol of the United States’ chaotic military withdrawal from Afghanistan.
The Taliban has revealed that its notorious religious police detained more than 13,000 Afghans during the past year for violating the extremist group’s morality laws.
Pakistan appears to be implementing an Internet firewall to monitor and regulate content and social media platforms. Activists say the aim is to stifle dissent in the South Asian country. The Internet disruptions caused by the imposition of the firewall are already having an impact on businesses.
In a new report, an Afghan media watchdog has documented how press freedom in Afghanistan continues to nosedive under the three-year-old rule of the Taliban.
Thousands of Afghans were evacuated to Albania after the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in 2021. Nearly three years on, dozens remain stranded in the Balkan nation as they wait to be resettled to third countries.
Three years after the Taliban's return to power, the hard-line Islamist group ruling Afghanistan has entrenched its position as the top enemy of its erstwhile ally, Pakistan.
The brutal treatment of an Afghan teenager by Iranian police has caused outrage online and attracted attention to the plight of millions of Afghan refugees and migrants living in the country.
A new report by the UN terrorism monitoring committee details how Taliban-ruled Afghanistan is becoming a central hub for extremist groups that are threatening regional and global security.
Afghanistan and Pakistan share long and porous borders with Iran. This makes them vulnerable to the potential fallout from mounting tensions in the Middle East.
Anti-Afghan sentiment in Iran has been on the rise in recent years, especially after a mass influx of refugees and migrants following the Taliban's takeover of Afghanistan in 2021.
Pakistan has announced a new counterterrorism operation to tackle rising militant attacks. But residents of the country's northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa oppose the offensive because of their harrowing experiences with past military operations.
A new U.S. government report documents rapidly deteriorating religious freedoms under the Taliban.
Afghanistan has the highest number of cholera cases in the world, according to the World Health Organization. Experts say natural disasters, including deadly floods in recent months, and a health-care system in free-fall are behind the sharp rise in cases.
At least 13 Afghans have received the death penalty in Iran so far this year, according to the Norway-based NGO Iran Human Rights.
Afghan women’s rights activists have voiced their concerns ahead of a major international event on Afghanistan that will include the Taliban. Rights campaigners have accused the UN of legitimizing the Taliban by inviting the extremist group to the June 30-July 1 meeting.
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