I am overlanding on the Silk Road and I joined various whatsapp groups to get infos, meet other travellers etc. I have not decided yet whether to cross Afghanistan or not, even though many do so rn.

There is one group for Afghanistan and it's by far the biggest of all with the majority of people who have the (+1)country code, which is the US of course...

All other groups are mostly europeans, asians and a few australian but no americans...why are they so crazy about Afghanistan?? Is it the risk, do they want to imitate those crazy british youtubers?

I left Kabul after the Taliban regained power in Afghanistan in 2021. As a female journalist in exile, I’m learning what it means to help my country from afar.

By Soraya Amiri

https://thewalrus.ca/dangerous-to-the-taliban/

Roqia Saee has been so traumatized while detained by the Taliban that there are things she still cannot speak of.

The women’s rights activist was detained by Afghanistan’s de facto authorities twice.

She has since fled Afghanistan – but her trauma remains.

More from

https://rukhshana.com/en/degradation-and-dehumanization-roqia-saees-psychological-injuries-under-taliban-detention

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Even as Taliban leaders zealously enforce regressive measures to keep women and girls out of schools, the work place and public life altogether, their own daughters enjoy privileges denied to Afghan women. Top Taliban officials send their own daughters to school in Qatar, Pakistan and other countries to access an education, and enjoy fundamental freedoms. They do not want their daughters subject to their own violent rule. One Taliban commander in Quetta runs such a private madrassa for daughters of members; a similar establishment exists in the Ghazni province. Others send their daughters to private schools and universities abroad, where many are taught in English and STEM skills.

https://thehill.com/opinion/4618995-taliban-leaders-enforce-brutal-restrictions-against-women-except-for-their-own-daughters/

Zan Times has launched an archive intending to hold accountable the perpetrators of violence and murder of women in Afghanistan. With its launch, Zan Times aims to inform and raise awareness about the human rights situation in Afghanistan, specifically the systematic violence against publicly active women in Afghanistan.

This archive, with financial support and open-source mentoring from the Centre for Information Resilience’s Afghan Witness project, is an effort to document the violence, including the arrest, disappearance, and killing of public women in Afghanistan since the Taliban regained power in August 2021. For the last six months, 10 journalists have worked on creating this archive. In doing so, Zan Times has been able to document 49 cases of violence against women. These cases include 34 arrests, one disappearance, and 14 murders of women. The crimes occurred in provinces across Afghanistan. The archive’s website was created by the Center for Advanced Defense Studies (C4ADS).

https://zantimes.com/2024/04/23/zan-times-archive-documenting-violence-against-public-women-in-afghanistan/

Hello everyone,

I'm on the lookout for authentic Afghani caps sourced directly from Kabul. I'm interested in purchasing around 50-60 caps and would appreciate any leads or contacts for reliable suppliers in Kabul who can also facilitate shipping to India.

These caps hold significant cultural value, and I'm keen on acquiring them for a special project. If you have any recommendations, referrals, or contacts that could assist me in this endeavor, please feel free to share them here or reach out to me via direct message.

Thank you in advance for your assistance!

The UN is calling on the Taliban to release Afghan human rights defender Ahmad Fahim Azimi , who has been detained in prison for more than six months.

A human rights and girls’ education advocate, Azimi is the head of the Better Thinking Centre and director of the Digital Citizen Lab in Afghanistan. He was imprisoned on 17 October 2023 by the de facto authorities in Afghanistan along with his colleague Siddiqullah Afghan, who was recently released.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/04/un-experts-urge-immediate-release-afghan-rights-defender

Hope for girls education ends as Taliban force education centers to sign commitments against teaching high school girls

The Taliban-run Ministry of Education has forced education officials to sign commitments that they will not teach girls above grade six or girls aged fourteen and above, according to four education centres in Kabul.

A copy of the commitment, seen by Rukhshana Media, also states that female teachers must only teach girls below the sixth grade.

It further states that “no excuse for violating this directive is acceptable”.

21 Apr 2024

https://rukhshana.com/en/hope-for-girls-education-ends-as-taliban-force-education-centers-to-sign-commitments-against-teaching-high-school-girls

'Kuchi', an Afghan Persian word meaning 'those who go on migrations', is the common generic term, used by both Afghans and foreigners, for the nomads of Afghanistan, as it has been for many decades. Most if not all the nomads, and indeed many long-settled former nomads, now acknowledge this name, yet in the 1960s and 1970s few of those so labelled used the term for themselves.

I know it sounds like a stupid question but seriously..given that the US was aligned with Pakistan and supported the Afghan fighters against the Russians in the 1980s, why didn’t the Taliban take a slightly more pro American view? Plus, I read that countries like Russia and India favored the Northern Alliance up through 2000s so it seems like there was an opening there.

Interview by France 24 with two women who fled Afghanistan when the Taliban retook the country (video):

https://www.france24.com/en/tv-shows/arts24/20240308-art-and-activism-in-exile-afghan-women-speak-out

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Afghans now mention access to food as their most pressing need. Unable to pay for or produce basic sustenance, millions face hunger and malnutrition. In 2024, an estimated 15.8 million people will experience crisis and emergency levels of food insecurity. The majority of the population is unable to procure basic needs such as healthcare, food, livelihoods, and housing. A Gallup poll found that 95 per cent of the population consider themselves to be suffering. Average life expectancy has been falling for the past five years. The Herat earthquakes and unprecedented large-scale returns from neighbouring countries have shown the disruptive impact of recurrent shocks and underscored the need for sustained international engagement and support.

https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/united-nations-afghanistan-annual-report-2023

A survey released Thursday revealed that over the past seven months, nearly 250,000 children have returned to Afghanistan from neighboring Pakistan with almost nothing, and they urgently need food, shelter and access to education.

The study by Save the Children said that more than 520,000 Afghans have returned home since September 2023 after Pakistan asked all undocumented foreigners to leave the country or face deportation. Nearly half of all the returnees are children.

Despite attending school in Pakistan, 65% of the children now back in Afghanistan are not enrolled in school. The majority, 85%, told the surveyors they did not have the necessary documents to register and enroll in school.

The survey did not say how many girls were among the children questioned as they also have to deal with the Taliban government’s ban on teenage girls’ education beyond the sixth grade.

https://www.voanews.com/a/afghan-children-returning-from-pakistan-face-grim-reality-survey-finds/7575232.html

Source: RWI

Originally published 18 Apr 2024

For two decades prior to the Taliban’s return to power on August 15, 2021, the Afghan people enjoyed a relatively suitable and lawful civic space. During this period, there was freedom of the media, the establishment of civil society associations, and the initiation of strikes, protests, and critical discussions all supported by existing laws. Despite challenges and a deteriorating security situation, civic activities persisted until the fall of Kabul. However, after regaining power, the Taliban revoked the laws of the former government and declared the application of Islamic Sharia to all aspects of life. Subsequently, they imposed increasing restrictions on civil, political, social, and media activities.

The Taliban’s ideological and political foundation plays a significant role in shaping the structure of their governing system and guiding their actions to limit civic space. The Taliban’s ideological views stem from their restrictive interpretations of Islamic Sharia. These views were not only acquired through learning in Deobandi Madrasas in Pakistan but were also documented and published in the form of a 312-page book titled “Islamic Emirate and its System” in 2022. The author, Sheikh Abdul Hakeem Haqqani, is the current de facto Chief of Justice of Afghanistan.

The stringent policies of the Taliban over the last two years, particularly concerning women’s rights, freedom of expression, civic activities, peaceful assemblies, and the persecution of women, human rights defenders, and former government employees, have resulted in a lack of official recognition by any country. This reluctance extends even to Islamic states. Additionally, the discriminatory treatment of individuals by the Taliban and their negative stance towards art, music, cultural values, and the rights of minorities are additional factors contributing to the international hesitancy to formally recognize the Taliban government.

This report was written by M. Abul Ahrar Ramizpoor , RWI Research Fellow at the RWI Afghanistan Programme which is supported by The Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency, Sida.

https://reliefweb.int/report/afghanistan/restriction-civic-space-afghanistan-under-taliban-religious-ideas-actions

GENEVA, April 15 (Reuters) - Friba Rezayee, the first woman to represent Afghanistan at the Olympics, has been appalled by the treatment of women since the resurgence of the Taliban and is now campaigning for the country to be kept out of the Paris Games.

Rezayee, a judoka who competed at the 2004 Olympics in Athens, has called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to ban Afghanistan due to the Taliban's human rights record. She has argued that under a such ban, Afghan women should still be allowed to participate as part of the IOC Refugee Olympic Team.

"Given tons and tons of evidence about the Taliban, about their brutal treatment of women and children, they are very dangerous," Rezayee, who now lives in Vancouver, told Reuters.

"If the IOC allows them to enter the Olympics at the heart of Europe, in Paris in 2024, it's very dangerous for the people."

https://www.reuters.com/sports/afghanistans-first-female-olympian-calls-games-ban-over-talibans-rights-record-2024-04-15/

Released by the UN Development Programme (UNDP) on Wednesday, Listening to Women Entrepreneurs in Afghanistan, Their Struggle and Resilience, analyses data collected over the last three years, providing one of the most detailed views into the changing circumstances of women entrepreneurs in the country.

The research revealed that Afghanistan’s women entrepreneurs face a range of hurdles and high costs while doing business.

Deepened discrimination and operational constraints coupled with a severely weakened financial system has forced 41 per cent of the over 3,000 women surveyed into debt.

https://news.un.org/en/story/2024/04/1148681

Hello everyone,

Sorry for the repost, tomorrow is my last day of data collection

I am writing my thesis on disordered money behaviors, specifically focusing on the differences between Afghan refugees, second-generation Afghan immigrants, and British locals. If any of these demographics apply to you I was wondering if you could be so kind as to fill out my questionnaire.

It consists of 65-66 questions and is estimated to take between 15-25 minutes. Your answers will be fully anonymous. Here is the link to the survey: https://forms.gle/QVX9rAmTeswXqJ9e7

Thank you for your time and participation :)