Afghanistan
The chance to reframe international engagement with Afghanistan
Afghanistan is largely a forgotten international concern, overshadowed by escalating tensions in the Middle East and the protracted Russia-Ukraine conflict. And a recent change in…
The cruelty in banning Afghan women from poetry
Poetry has served as ignition, fuel, and fire throughout many political movements across history, and is particularly prevalent in Afghanistan, where women are finding dignity in…
The Taliban’s gas pipedream
The Taliban has long held international energy ambitions. Plans to build a $10 billion gas pipeline connecting Turkmenistan, Afghanistan, Pakistan and India, known as the TAPI…
Targeting girls education: Pakistan’s tribal areas suffer under Taliban influence
The long, rugged border running along Pakistan’s northwestern tribal areas that separates Afghanistan provides no barrier to the influence of the Taliban and its radical policies…
Afghan women: The silent victims of Taliban brutality
The Taliban’s Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada has vowed to start stoning women to death in public. On 23 March, in a voice message aired on a Taliban-controlled…
Pakistan: The dangerous reality of working on China’s megaprojects
The killing of five Chinese engineers in a 26 March suicide attack in Pakistan’s northwest has renewed concerns about the safety and security of Chinese personnel and projects in…
Pakistan intends to deport 1.7 million Afghans
Last week, the government of Pakistan announced that all undocumented migrants must leave the country by 1 November or face deportation. Afghan refugees are the biggest illegal…
The Kalash are under threat from Pakistani Taliban
On the morning of 6 September 2023, the Pakistani Taliban (TTP) launched a massive attack in the Chitral district of Pakistan. More than 500 TTP militants stormed the checkpoints…
Why humanitarian aid is vital to Afghanistan
Two-thirds of Afghanistan’s population (28.3 million people) is in urgent need of humanitarian assistance. In the two years since the fall of the Afghanistan Republic, about…
Can the Taliban contain Islamic State in Afghanistan?
Ever since the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, Islamic State affiliates have increased attacks in the country in a bid to delegitimise the new rulers. The attacks by the Islamic…