Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe for free, click here.
I'm Frud Bezhan, regional desk editor for Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead.
The Key Issue
The Afghan Taliban has issued a fatwa, or Islamic decree, banning its fighters from launching attacks in neighboring Pakistan.
That is according to the Taliban’s top diplomat in Islamabad, Hafiz Mohibullah Shakir, who told Pakistan’s Geo News that waging violence in "Pakistan is not jihad," or holy war.
Shakir did not say when and by whom the fatwa was issued.
“I want to make it clear: No attacks will be launched from Afghanistan on Pakistan,” Shakir said on October 25.
Zabihullah Mujahid, the chief Taliban spokesman, said in August that the group had issued a fatwa that banned its fighters from waging violence outside Afghanistan, without specifically mentioning Pakistan.
The Taliban defined its 19-year insurgency against the U.S.-backed Afghan government and international forces as a jihad against “infidels” and “occupiers.”
Why It's Important: The fatwa appears to be aimed at the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP) -- an extremist group that has close ideological and organizational ties with the Afghan Taliban.
The TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, has intensified its insurgency against Islamabad since the Afghan Taliban seized power in Kabul in 2021.
Pakistan has accused the Afghan Taliban of harboring the TTP and carried out cross-border attacks targeting TTP hideouts inside Afghanistan.
The fatwa also appears to be a response to growing reports that some Afghan Taliban fighters have joined the TTP’s insurgency.
Pakistani officials have said that Afghans have been involved in recent militant attacks in the South Asian country of some 240 million.
What's Next: The Afghan Taliban’s alleged sheltering of the TTP has soured its relations with Pakistan, its longtime ally.
The fatwa suggests that the Afghan militants are keen on mending ties with Islamabad. Recent tensions have led to costly border closures and deadly clashes.
In June, the Afghan Taliban relocated TTP fighters and their families away from the border with Pakistan to other areas of Afghanistan, a move intended to placate Islamabad.
What To Keep An Eye On
A young Afghan man has committed suicide in a refugee camp in Indonesia. Aqil Ali, 28, hanged himself in a camp in the city of Tanjung Pinang on October 22.
Hossein Azizi, Ali’s friend, told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that he was in a “bad mental state” for weeks. “We found him hanging from a tree near the volleyball court in the camp,” he said.
Ali’s body was laid to rest on October 24. He had been in Indonesia since 2014.
Why It's Important: Ali’s death has highlighted the plight of the over 7,000 Afghan refugees stranded in Indonesia.
Many Afghans saw Indonesia as a short-term stopover en route to Australia. But in 2013 the authorities in Canberra began refusing entry to boats carrying refugees and sent them back to the Southeast Asian nation.
Indonesia is one of the world's least desirable places for refugees. Jakarta is not a signatory to the 1951 UN Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees or the related 1967 protocol intended to eliminate restrictions on who can be considered a refugee.
Indonesia also has no asylum law of its own and delegates its responsibility to determine who gets refugee protection and finds solutions to the issue to the office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
The result is that thousands of Afghan refugees are living in limbo in the archipelago, some for more than a decade, with no livelihood or security.
That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you have. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org.
Until next time,
Frud Bezhan
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