Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Editors Choice

  1. Thematic Dossier VII: Detentions in Afghanistan – Bagram, Transfer and Torture Kate Clark • • Dossiers • 20 Dec 2014
  2. Ambiguous about Torture: Zero Dark Thirty, the Movie Kate Clark • • Rights and Freedoms • 5 Feb 2013
  3. Drone warfare 1: Afghanistan, birthplace of the armed drone Kate Clark • • International Engagement • 27 Feb 2017
  4. A New Accountability Mechanism for Afghanistan: What the IIM-A can (and cannot) do Ehsan Qaane • • Rights and Freedoms • 5 Nov 2025

Spotlight

Themed Reports

  • Sharif Akram • 14 Sep 2026

    The Erosion of One Man’s Rule: How household authority is shifting in rural Pashtun society

    For generations, authority within the Afghan family rested with its eldest man, the grandfather or, in his absence, the father or oldest brother. They decided everything from marriage and money to migration and disputes and the rest of the household was bound to obey. That arrangement is loosening. AAN’s Sharif Akram has been looking at […]

  • Gulhan Durzai • 25 Aug 2026

    Pushed to the Limits: The struggle to survive deepening poverty in Afghanistan

    Much has been written about the Afghan economy since the re-establishment of the Islamic Emirate in 2021: the data show a calamitous economic contraction, a fragile recovery where per capita GDP is actually falling, a labour market struggling to provide jobs and livelihoods, women and children taking on home-based work for a pittance, a large number […]

  • Martine van Bijlert • AAN Team • 20 Jul 2026

    Inside Afghanistan’s Unequal Economic Recovery: How households have fared since 2021

    Since the crash following the collapse of the Republic in August 2021, Afghanistan’s economy has witnessed a modest recovery, although many households have not. In a new longitudinal study, AAN has followed a number of families across Afghanistan and over time, to better understand how the country’s economic trajectory has played out for individual households. When we first […]

  • Sharif Akram • 9 Jul 2026

    Preaching Without a Party: Independent religious figures find space under the Islamic Emirate

    Since the Taliban’s return to power in August 2021, the space for organised religious activism in Afghanistan has narrowed sharply. Islamic parties have been suppressed or gone quiet. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA), itself an Islamist movement, has worked steadily to bring religious discourse under state control. And yet, an unusual category of religious […]

  • Sharif Akram • 22 Mar 2026

    Bridging the Divide? Radio learning and girls’ education in rural Afghanistan

    When classrooms fell silent for older Afghan girls in 2021, millions were cut off from formal schooling, deepening long-standing inequalities between girls and boys. Yet learning did not stop – it adapted. Across the country, alternative avenues have emerged to try to help fill the gap. Among them, radio-based education has taken on particular significance, […]

  • Mhd Assem Mayar • 10 Feb 2026

    Pollution in Afghanistan: Air, water, waste and noise under weak governance

    Kabul’s winters bring a suffocating haze, as residents burn coal, wood and even plastic to heat their homes and use outdated vehicles, releasing toxic fumes into the city’s dry air. However,  perhaps surprisingly, the worst air quality in Afghanistan is found not in the capital, but in the southwest and north, where dust storms, made worse […]

  • Antonio Giustozzi • 18 Jan 2026

    From Insurgency to Government: How the Islamic Emirate polices Afghanistan

    Much has been written about Afghanistan’s police force during the Islamic Republic, but so far almost nothing about policing under the Islamic Emirate. In August 2021, when the Taliban took over the Ministry of Interior and more than 500 police stations spread across the country, the Emirate’s ability to police the country became a key test […]

The Daily Hustle

  • Hamid Pakteen • Roxanna Shapour • 7 Oct 2026

    Nine Months Under the Emirate: One woman’s pregnancy in Kabul

    Pregnancy is often described as a time of joy, anticipation and preparation, but for many women in Afghanistan, getting through those nine months can feel like an obstacle course. In this instalment of the Daily Hustle, AAN’s Hamid Pakteen speaks to Zarghuna, a 38-year-old mother in Kabul, about her latest pregnancy. With her husband stranded […]

  • Hamid Pakteen • Roxanna Shapour • 1 Oct 2026

    Borrowing from the Future: How an Afghan trader sank deeper into debt

    For many small traders, buying goods on credit is part of doing business. It allows them to trade even if they do not have the money to pay for stock up front. However, that also leaves them vulnerable when deals go wrong, creditors demand repayment or the economy takes a downturn. Borrowing more money to […]

  • Roxanna Shapour • 8 Sep 2026

    The Virtual Girl: One woman’s digital life under the Emirate

    As opportunities have narrowed for women and girls outside the home – under the Islamic Emirate’s many restrictions – many have turned to the internet to try to replace what they have lost. In this instalment of The Daily Hustle, Roxanna Shapour hears from Sayeda, a young Afghan woman in Kabul who not only studies […]

  • Roxanna Shapour • 16 Aug 2026

    When You Can’t Afford to Be Sick: From hakims and shrines to the operating table

    What happens when the medical treatment you need costs more money than you have? For many Afghans, illness comes with an impossible calculation. Paying for healthcare places a heavy burden on households, with patients and their families usually forced to cover costs out of their own pockets. For those faced with medical bills they cannot […]

  • Rohullah Sorush • Roxanna Shapour • 28 Jun 2026

    After the Schools Closed: For some Afghan girls, learning happens on the airwaves

    One of the first things the Taliban did after returning to power in August 2021 was to ban girls from going to school beyond grade six. Nearly five years later, the ban remains in place. For many, the classroom they had sat in only days before was suddenly out of reach. In this instalment of The […]

  • Jawed Neshat • Roxanna Shapour • 31 May 2026

    What Affordable Means in Today’s Afghanistan: Choosing what to give up and what to hold on to

    What happens when a family that once enjoyed a comfortable life can no longer afford the things it once took for granted? This is the situation for many Afghan households still struggling in the wake of the economic collapse of 2021 and 2022 when many lost their jobs and yet prices continue to rise and […]

  • Rohullah Sorush • Roxanna Shapour • 24 Apr 2026

    A Marriage I Didn’t Choose: An Afghan girl’s journey into despair and back 

    After the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan returned to power in August 2021, women and girls were barred from continuing their education beyond grade six. Women were also banned from working in most government jobs and NGOs, leaving many without employment or a way to support themselves. The opportunities that had seemed within reach during the […]

Reports

  • Jelena Bjelica • Rohullah Sorush • Rama Mirzada • 28 Sep 2026

    The Measles Outbreak Cycle: A long road ahead to end epidemics 

    Afghanistan has faced recurrent measles outbreaks for more than two decades, with uneven routine immunisation allowing the disease to return even after large vaccination campaigns. Drawing on interviews conducted in 2025 and 2026 with doctors, health workers and parents, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica, Rama Mirzada and Rohullah Sorush hear about the latest major outbreak in 2024-25, […]

  • Kate Clark • AAN Team • 19 Sep 2026

    Afghan Women Left in Limbo: Decree 18 and the struggle to end a marriage

    Early this year, the Islamic Emirate’s Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, issued Decree 18, which codified the grounds on which women can end a marriage. While Afghan men can divorce their wives easily, women must either get their husband’s consent, typically with financial penalties, or a court ruling. Kate Clark and the AAN team have been […]

  • Rachel Reid • 1 Sep 2026

    Beyond the Ban: Older girls finding alternative forms of education 

    The closure of schools for girls beyond grade six is the most glaring example of the Emirate’s discrimination against women and girls. Without access to secondary and higher education, most teenage girls and young women see little hope for a future beyond family life. But for some, the restrictions are not absolute. Whether through their […]

  • Rohullah Sorush • Roxanna Shapour • 5 Aug 2026

    A Son of Jaghori: Remembering Grand Ayatollah Mohammad Ishaq Fayyaz, 1930-2026

    For centuries, a steady stream of Afghan students have gone to the great Shia Islamic seminaries of Iran and Iraq in search of religious learning. Few rose as high as Mohammad Ishaq Fayyaz, who died in June 2026 at the age of 96. AAN’s Rohullah Suroush and Roxanna Shapour trace Fayyaz’s journey from a village […]

  • Jelena Bjelica • Fabrizio Foschini • 26 Jul 2026

    A Good Smuggler is Hard to Find: The evolution of Afghan smuggling networks in the Balkans

    In the past decade, Afghans aged 14 to 23 have become the single largest group of migrants in the Western Balkans. More than 2.5 million people – a fifth of them Afghans – are estimated to have crossed through this region since 2015 on their way to Western Europe. Over that time, Afghan migrant-smuggling networks have […]

  • Nur Khan Himmat • Jelena Bjelica • 24 Jun 2026

    Returning to Uncertainty: How Afghan returnees from Pakistan are struggling to rebuild their lives

    Some six million Afghans have been forcibly returned from Iran and Pakistan since September 2023, almost half of them in 2025, making it one of the largest return movements of any nationality in recent decades. 2.26 million people returned from Pakistan, one million in 2025 alone, amid an intensifying deportation campaign launched in September 2023 […]

  • Rama Mirzada • 17 Jun 2026

    Afghan Students in Pakistan: Lost dreams or a life in the shadows?  

    Afghans studying in Pakistan had hoped they might avoid the collective expulsions that, since 2023, have upended life for over two million Afghans living there. However, as the scope of deportations has widened, students have found themselves unable to get study visas. Some have already been detained by Pakistani police and deported. Others have managed, […]

Podcasts

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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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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Publications

Dossiers Special Reports Other Publications

The Measles Outbreak Cycle: A long road ahead to end epidemics 

Jelena Bjelica • Rohullah Sorush • Rama Mirzada •

Afghanistan has faced recurrent measles outbreaks for more than two decades, with uneven routine immunisation allowing the disease to return even after large vaccination campaigns. Drawing on interviews conducted in 2025 and 2026 with doctors, health workers and parents, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica, Rama Mirzada and Rohullah Sorush hear about the latest major outbreak in 2024-25, […]

Reports Read more

Afghan Women Left in Limbo: Decree 18 and the struggle to end a marriage

Kate Clark • AAN Team •

Early this year, the Islamic Emirate’s Supreme Leader, Hibatullah Akhundzada, issued Decree 18, which codified the grounds on which women can end a marriage. While Afghan men can divorce their wives easily, women must either get their husband’s consent, typically with financial penalties, or a court ruling. Kate Clark and the AAN team have been […]

Reports Read more
Head of customs for the Hairatan border crossing in Balkh province, Abdul Sattar Rashid (second left), with other Taleban on the Afghanistan-Uzbekistan Friendship Bridge.
The Taleban moved swiftly to organise and regularise the collection of customs and taxes as they took power in 2021. Photo: Wakil Kohsar/AFP, 27 October 2021

New AAN Special Report: “Taxing the Afghan Nation: What the Taleban’s pursuit of domestic revenues means for citizens, the economy and the state”

Kate Clark •

As insurgents, the Taleban taxed farmers, businesses and NGOs in areas under their control, using the money to fund their war effort. On taking power in August 2021, they swiftly moved to collect taxes in the whole of the country. That serious-minded pursuit of domestic revenue collection is both a practice carried over from the […]

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New special report: ‘Between Hope and Fear. Rural Afghan women talk about peace and war’

Martine van Bijlert • AAN Team •

As the United States pushes ahead with the rapid and unconditional withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan, an unrelenting Taleban offensive has driven the Afghan government out of scores of districts across the country. Many Afghans are seeing their fears about the fallout from the ill-considered US-driven peace process come true. Against this backdrop, AAN’s […]

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Thirty Years after Najib: A dossier of reports on the PDPA and its legacy

AAN Team •

Thirty years ago, on 27 September 1996, former president Dr Najibullah was killed alongside his brother, Shahpur, in the Afghan capital, Kabul. He had been sheltering in a United Nations compound since the mujahedin captured the city four years earlier, but on 26 September, the Taliban took Kabul. By the next morning, the two brothers […]

Dossiers Read more

Water, Climate and Survival in Afghanistan: A dossier of reports on the environment 

AAN Team •

The pressures on Afghanistan’s environment are increasingly urgent as the climate crisis bites. Our last dossier of reports on this subject was published in November 2022 when Afghanistan – one of the lightest emitters of greenhouse gases and also one of the hardest hit by climate change – had no representation at the international COP27 gathering (because of the […]

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Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment

Thomas Ruttig •

ISPI, 12 August 2025 AAN contributed two contributions to a dossier, “Afghanistan, Five Years of Taliban Rule: An Assessment” by free lance journalist and long-time Afghanistan watcher Giuliano Battiston and published by ISPI, the Istituto per gli Studi di Politica Internazionale (Italian Institute for International Political Studies) in Rome. First, under the title “Back to […]

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What went wrong? Two AAN studies for Norway’s Afghanistan Commission

AAN Team •

In October 2024, Norway appointed a second Afghanistan Commission to evaluate the country’s efforts in Afghanistan, this time covering the period from 2015 to 2021. As part of its review, it examined Norway’s military contribution, development assistance and its efforts to support peace and reconciliation in Afghanistan, as well as the 2021 evacuation operation. As with […]

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