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.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the mounting hostilities between the Taliban and Tajikistan, alleged Taliban atrocities and violence in Panjshir and why the Afghan Sufis are now afraid to worship after being targeted by the Islamic State-Khorasan in bomb attacks.
The already tense relations between Afghanistan's Taliban authorities and neighboring Tajikistan have worsened in recent weeks. In the latest incident to test the countries' relations, the Taliban closed the border with Tajikistan and seized dozens of Tajik trucks transporting goods to Afghanistan.
A senior Pakistani Army general is overseeing negotiations between Islamabad and the banned hard-line Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), an official who requested anonymity told RFE/RL.
Islamic State-Khorasan militants have carried out two deadly attacks on the Sufi community in Afghanistan in recent weeks. The Sufis, who follow a mystical and moderate form of Islam, are seen as heretics by extremist Islamist groups. Sufis say they are now too afraid to worship in their mosques.
This week's Gandhara Briefing brings you insights into the IS-K's ambitions to instigate a regional war against the Afghan Taliban, Pakistan's efforts to revive peace talks with the TTP, and why prohibitive marriage costs prevent some Afghan men from getting married.
Islamic State-Khorasan is provoking tensions between the Taliban and Afghanistan's weary neighbors by reportedly launching rocket attacks on Central Asian countries from Afghan soil and using fugitive militants to stir up trouble for the hard-line Islamists’ internationally isolated government.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on how the Islamic State-Khorasan’s relentless attacks are undermining the Taliban’s claims of establishing security, why Afghanistan’s leading broadcaster is embracing Taliban restrictions, and the first Afghan Eid al-Fitr under the Taliban.
A surge in deadly attacks by the IS-K militant group on religious minorities has busted the Taliban's claims that it has established "security" in Afghanistan. Despite the Taliban's claim that it has "defeated" IS-K, the group remains resilient and regularly attacks Taliban fighters and officials.
This week's Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on why factions from among the fallen Afghan republic are launching a rebellion against the Taliban, the first female Baluch separatist suicide bomber, and the Afghan debate surrounding the 30th anniversary of the mujahedin victory.
The first suicide attack by a female Baluch separatist in Pakistan represents a dangerous turn in a two-decade insurgency. This week's attack -- which killed four, including three Chinese citizens -- hints that separatists are becoming more radicalized in the absence of a political settlement.
A collection of small resistance groups are mounting armed resistance to the hard-line Taliban-led government by launching attacks in several provinces.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights into the tensions between erstwhile allies Pakistan and the Taliban and the Afghan farmers who oppose the Taliban's ban on poppy cultivation. We also profile Shehbaz Sharif and explain why Imran Khan is down but not out.
Pakistan and the Taliban have been allies for decades. But since the militants regained power in Afghanistan, border disputes and unprecedented air strikes by Pakistan have exacerbated already simmering tensions.
Afghan farmers were upset when the Taliban banned opium cultivation this month and experts say the Taliban's cash-strapped, pariah government is unlikely to provide alternative livelihoods for the farmers.
After three tumultuous years in power, Imran Khan was ousted as Pakistan's prime minister over the weekend. Despite his ouster, experts say the political career of the 69-year-old, who still retains some support among his urban conservative political base, is not over.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights on the treatment of Afghan refugees in Iran, the Taliban’s botched attempt to treat drug addicts, and how mere blasphemy allegations can lead to murderers and lynching.
New videos have emerged that appear to show the mistreatment of Afghan refugees and migrants in Iran, including beatings and abuse. The videos come as thousands of Afghans fleeing Taliban repression cross into Iran every week.
This week’s Gandhara Briefing brings you insights into why the Taliban reneged on its promise to reopen girls’ schools, the desperate struggle of more than two million Afghan widows amid a mounting hunger crisis, and why poverty is forcing more Afghan children into work.
A staggering 95 percent of people are going hungry in Afghanistan, which is mired in the world's worst humanitarian crisis. Households headed by women are especially vulnerable, including the country's estimated 2 million widows.
For months, the Taliban promised to reopen girls' high schools in Afghanistan. But in a last-minute decision, the militant group reneged on its promise. Experts attribute the move to internal divisions within the Taliban.
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