Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm watching in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

In a major blow to Afghanistan’s Taliban government, the Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) claimed credit for killing its refugee affairs minister.

On December 11, Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani was killed in a suicide bombing inside the ministry building in Kabul, which claimed the lives of at least five more people.

Haqqani, in his 60s, was the uncle of the Taliban's interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani. He is the most senior Taliban figure killed by IS-K since the Islamist group returned to power in August 2021.

In 2011, the United States designated him a global terrorist and offered a $5 million bounty for help in capturing him.

Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani was the younger brother of the late Jalaluddin Haqqani, a leading anti-Soviet mujahidin commander in the 1980s who joined the Taliban in the 1990s. But his extended family and its loyalists are known as the Haqqani Network, once a brutal Taliban military wing.

Why It’s Important: The killing negates Taliban claims that its harsh crackdown against the IS-K has eliminated the ultraradical transnational jihadist group from Afghanistan.

It is a significant blow to the powerful Haqqani Network, which dominates the Taliban government’s internal security apparatus. Its members lead the Interior Ministry and the General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI), which has led the Taliban’s crackdown against IS-K.

“The murder proves IS-K’s small presence in Afghanistan is dangerous,” said Sami Yousafzai, a veteran Afghan journalist and commentator.

He said Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani’s killing would further isolate Sirajuddin Haqqani, who relied on his uncle to express sensitive views.

“His absence may create a leadership void,” he wrote on X, formerly Twitter. “Potentially weakening [the Haqqani Network’s] influence and internal cohesion.”

Yousafzai believes that senior Taliban figures will now limit their public dealings, which will further alienate ordinary Afghans from the Taliban government.

What's Next: In retaliation for the killing, the Taliban government is likely to launch a new campaign against the IS-K, which will disproportionality target Afghanistan’s tiny Salafist community for providing some of the group’s fighters.

The IS-K, however, will be encouraged by the killing and will continue to attack the Taliban, as well as religious and sectarian minorities in Afghanistan, to undermine its rule.

What To Keep An Eye On

The Taliban government has welcomed the initial approval of a proposed Russian law that will pave the way toward removing the extremist group from the Kremlin’s list of terrorist organizations.

“The step represents a great development and is meant to remove obstacles in enhancing bilateral relations,” said Abdul Qahar Balkhi, a spokesman for the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry, on December 11.

Moscow has engaged with the Taliban after its return to power in 2021. But it has been slow in delivering on repeated promises to take the group off its list of terrorist organizations.

Moscow has eagerly courted the Taliban after the Islamist State-Khorasan (IS-K) claimed credit for attacking a concert hall near Moscow. At least 145 people were killed in the attack in March.

The move comes months after Russian President Vladimir Putin called the Taliban "a trusted ally" in fighting terrorism in July.

Why It's Important: Like other regional powers, Moscow is keen on engaging the Taliban to prevent itself from terrorist threats emanating from Taliban-ruled Afghanistan.

It has consistently dangled the Taliban delisting and recognition of its government as a carrot to encourage the internationally unrecognized Taliban administration to cooperate on its security concerns.

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,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

Khalil Haqqani, the refugee minister in Afghanistan's Taliban-led administration, has been killed in an explosion in the capital, Kabul, two sources from inside the government told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on December 11.

The sources said the blast, which occurred inside the ministry's compound, killed others as well, though no details were given.

Haqqani, the uncle of the Taliban's acting interior minister, Sirajuddin Haqqani, is the first senior cabinet member to be killed in an explosion since the Taliban seized power in Afghanistan in August 2021 as international forces withdrew from the war-torn country.

The United States designated Khalil Haqqani as a global terrorist on February 9, 2011 and had offered a $5 million reward for information leading to his capture.

The Taliban has ordered all private educational institutions in Afghanistan to cease female medical education starting December 3, according to two informed sources who spoke on condition of anonymity. The directive from the Taliban's supreme leader, Mullah Haibatullah Akhundzada, was announced on December 2 during a meeting of the extremist group's Public Health Ministry in Kabul. The two sources told RFE/RL that the heads of the private medical institutions affected by the order were summoned to the ministry for the announcement. As a result of the order, all institutions offering training in midwifery, dental prosthetics, nursing, and laboratory sciences are now barred from enrolling or teaching female students, the sources said. Taliban spokesmen were not immediately available for comment.

Pakistan's northwest has been the scene of sporadic bursts of sectarian violence for decades.

In the latest flareup, over 80 people were killed in clashes in the Kurram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province on November 21-23.

The violence erupted when gunmen fired on a convoy of Shi'ite Muslims. The deadly incident triggered retaliatory attacks on the Sunni Muslim community. The sides announced a seven-day cease-fire on November 24.

Troubled History

Pakistan is a Sunni-majority country. But Kurram, a mountainous district bordering Afghanistan, has a large Shi'ite population.

Decades of clashes, often over land, have left thousands of people in Kurram dead. Over 200 people have been killed since July, alone.

Northwestern Pakistan has been a hotbed of militancy for decades. The emergence of Sunni and Shi'ite armed groups in the region has exacerbated sectarian tensions, experts say.

"The rise of militant groups from rival sects has transformed Kurram into a battleground for sectarian dominance," said Ihsanullah Tipu Mehsud, news director at the Khorasan Diary, a website tracking militant groups in Afghanistan and Pakistan.

Shi'a say Sunni extremist groups -- including the Tehrik-e Taliban Pakistan (TTP), Islamic State-Khorasan, and Lashkar-e Jhangvi -- are trying to exterminate or expel them from Kurram. Many of the groups have targeted Shi'a, whom they see as apostates.

In some of the worst violence in Kurram in recent decades, around 2,000 people, mostly Shi'a, were killed between 2007 and 2011 when the TTP, also known as the Pakistani Taliban, tried to overrun the district.

The Sunni community blames the violence in Kurram on the Zainebiyoun Brigade, a Shi'ite militia made up of Pakistanis who fought in Syria. The group included Shi'a from Kurram, some of whom have returned home in recent years.

Political Marginalization

Experts say the deadly sectarian violence in Kurram is also borne out of weak governance and political marginalization.

Pakistan's border regions -- including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa -- have been the scene of deadly military offensives against Islamist and separatist insurgencies, and the army has been accused of committing widespread human rights abuses.

The federal government in Islamabad and the powerful military, which has an oversized role in domestic and foreign affairs, have also eroded democratic norms and institutions.

In 2019, Islamabad passed a law that granted security forces in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa sweeping powers, including detaining suspects indefinitely or without charge.

Syed Irfan Ashraf, a university lecturer in the northwestern city of Peshawar, said Pakistan's military has tried to enforce an "authoritarian governance model" in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

"This governance model is taking a huge toll now," he said.

Violence against women and girls is pervasive across the world, and often underreported.

Rampant physical, sexual, and psychological violence is part of what activists have called a global attack on women's rights.

Nowhere is that more apparent than in Afghanistan, where the Taliban has erased women from public life and severely restricted their fundamental rights.

Under the rule of the extremist group, Afghanistan has become the only country in the world where teenage girls are banned from attending school.

"I wanted to become a doctor and serve my country," Marzieh, a teenaged Afghan girl, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. "I studied for nine years, but it was all for nothing. Now, I have ended up staying at home."

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Silenced But Not Forgotten: Women Under The Taliban

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No country has recognized the Taliban, which seized power in 2021. But a growing number of countries, including in the West, are cooperating with its government on trade, security-related issues, and immigration.

"If the world can look at what the Taliban are doing to women and girls and shrug and move on and focus instead on partnering with the Taliban on other issues, that says something incredibly damning about how little the rights of women and girls matter to global leaders," said Heather Barr, associate women's rights director at Human Rights Watch (HRW).

Under Taliban rule, there has been a surge in forced, early, and child marriages. The United Nations has said child marriages have increased by around 25 percent in the past three years in the country.

Rights groups have said a devastating economic and humanitarian crisis and the lack of educational and professional prospects for women have fueled the sharp uptick.

"I was married at 14, and I had my first child at 15," Shazia, a child bride, told Radio Azadi. "It was a daughter. I struggled a lot with her. I never thought I would survive. It was extremely difficult for me."

'Freedom To Choose'

In neighboring Iran, women are banned from many fields of study, sporting events, and from obtaining a passport or traveling outside the country without their husband's consent.

Women who violate the country's Islamic dress code, meanwhile, face fines and sentences of up to 10 years in prison.

A growing number of Iranian women have refused to wear the mandatory hijab, or Islamic head scarf, in defiance of the country's clerical establishment.

The hijab is a symbol of women's oppression in Iran, a 20-year-old woman inside the country told RFE/RL's Radio Farda.

"This piece of cloth represents a right that has been taken away from us," she said. "It is the freedom to choose what I want to wear."

The issue of the controversial hijab was central to the unprecedented protests that erupted across Iran in 2022. The demonstrations were triggered by the death in custody of Mahsa Amini, a young woman who was arrested for allegedly violating the hijab law.

During the protests, women and girls removed and burned their head scarves.

The authorities waged a brutal crackdown on protesters and doubled down on their enforcement of the hijab.

Meanwhile, scores of women in Iran are killed by their male relatives each year -- including their husbands, fathers, and brothers -- in the name of preserving the family's "honor."

According to Stop Femicide Iran, an NGO based in New York, over 150 women were victims of femicide in Iran in 2023.

Political Will

Gender-based violence is pervasive even in countries where women do not face restrictions in their appearances, freedom of movement, and right to work or study.

The UN estimated in 2023 that a woman was killed every 10 minutes by her partner or family member. Almost one in three women experiences violence at least once in her lifetime, according to the world body.

In Kosovo, at least 58 women have been killed in cases of femicide in the past 14 years.

Erona, a 20-year-old, was killed in April, almost a year after she got divorced. Her ex-husband is accused of murdering her.

Erona's mother, Milihatja, believes her daughter suffered years of domestic violence.

"She would come home and tell me that she would never return to him, but something would happen and she would go back," she told RFE/RL's Kosovo Service.

In Bosnia-Herzegovina, a man live-streamed on Instagram the killing of his ex-wife before eventually turning the gun on himself.

The killing in August 2023 triggered shock and outrage, and underscored the issue of violence against women in the Balkan country.

Maida, who lives in the country's northeast, divorced and reported her abusive husband around a year ago.

"He came and grabbed me by the neck. My children saw it and started to cry. I told them ‘I'm OK,' but then he slapped me," Maida told RFE/RL's Balkan Service.

Then, she said, her husband threatened to kill her and their children. "I know what he's capable of, and I decided to go to the police and report him," she said.

Eventually, she managed to get a restraining order. But she still does not feel safe. "He can come at any time of the day and do what he imagined in his head," she said.

Experts say gender-based violence is preventable and addressing the issue often comes down to political will.

"These are not mysterious unsolvable problems -- they just require that governments be genuinely committed to upholding the rights of women and girls and that they put in place the resources, systems, and expertise needed to do so," said Barr of HRW.

The first train carrying goods from China to Afghanistan arrived in Mazar-e Sharif on November 23 after crossing through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, the de facto Taliban rulers said. The Taliban said 55 containers arrived in Afghanistan after a 22-day journey, marking the inauguration of the first direct train link between China and Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. The train is expected to take Afghan goods back to China for sale there. Since the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, no country, including China, has formally recognized the extremist group -- which has been accused of massive rights violations -- but Beijing has attempted to increase ties as part of its economic push in the region, including its Belt and Road initiative. To read the original story by RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, click here.

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm watching in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

Iran wants to repatriate some 1,000 prisoners to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan to serve their sentences there.

"They are costing a lot to the public purse," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Esmial Baqaei said of Tehran's motive in seeking to return prisoners to Afghanistan.

The comments follow a visit by Iranian government officials to Kabul last week. Deputy Justice Minister Askar Jalalian met with Taliban Foreign Minister Amir Khan Muttaqi and Khalil ur-Rahman Haqqani, the refugee affairs minister.

The Taliban government has demanded that Tehran hand over all Afghan convicts after Iran Human Rights, a nongovernmental watchdog, said Tehran had so far this year executed 49 Afghans as part of an accelerating trend of executing Afghans since the Taliban's return to power three years ago.

Tehran, however, only wants to hand over Afghans convicted of drug trafficking during the next two months. The transfers will only take place with the prisoners' consent.

Why It's Important: Reports of wrongful convictions and arrests of Afghans have been on the rise as Iran seeks to expel millions of Afghans it says live in the country.

During the past year, many Afghans have complained of harassment, intimidation, discrimination, and violence at the hands of Iranian authorities in a harsh crackdown.

According to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), Tehran deported more than 550,000 Afghan migrants during the first nine months of this year, from among the estimated 4 million that live in the country.

After the return of the Taliban to power following the collapse of the pro-Western Afghan republic in August 2021, millions of Afghans have sought shelter and jobs in Iran.

International rights watchdog Human Rights Watch (HRW) has accused Iran of using the death penalty "as a tool of fear" to target "ethnic minorities and political dissidents."

Iran, a leading global executioner, has executed at least 651 people during the first 10 months of this year.

HRW Iran researcher Nahid Naghshbandi said the Iranian courts "are a tool of systematic repression and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless."

What's Next: It is not clear whether the Taliban government will honor sentences by Iranian courts or will free Afghan prisoners once they return to the country.

The Taliban justice system and human rights record do not inspire confidence in the extremist group's capacity to look after the rights of Afghans at home or abroad.

What To Keep An Eye On

Residents of the Afghan capital complain that with the onset of winter, power cuts have made their lives miserable.

In many parts of the crowded city, residents only have electricity for a few hours a day.

"We are miserable because there is no electricity, wood, coal, or gas," Latifa, a resident of the Qala Zaman Khan district in Kabul, told RFE/RL's Radio Azadi.

Firewood and coal cost upwards of $100 for a week's supply, which is out of reach for most impoverished residents.

Afghanistan imports most of its electricity from neighboring Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran, and Turkmenistan. This costs the cash-strapped Taliban government $220 million annually.

The Taliban government struggles to collect electricity bills and relies on aggressive power cuts during low electricity supplies in winter.

Why It's Important: Three years after the Taliban's return to power, it has done little to improve electricity supply in the country.

Without investments, aid, and a comprehensive energy policy, Afghanistan relies on expansive energy imports instead of diversifying to green energy sources to tap into the country's abundant wind and sunlight.

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,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

The Azadi Briefing will next appear on December 13.

Iranian authorities are using executions as "a tool of fear," particularly directed at ethnic minorities, dissidents, and foreign nationals, Human Rights Watch (HRW) said on November 20.

The rights watchdog highlighted a recent surge in capital punishment sentences against these groups, noting that the verdicts are handed down amid rampant violations of due process.

According to Iran Human Rights group, in the first 10 months of this year, at least 651 people were executed in Iran -- 166 people in October alone.

HRW noted the case of Kurdish political prisoner Varisheh Moradi, sentenced to death by Iran’s revolutionary court in Tehran on November 10 on the charge of “armed rebellion against the state."

Moradi, a member of the Free Women’s Society of Eastern Kurdistan, was arrested in the city of Sanandaj in Kurdistan Province in August last year and kept for five months in solitary confinement in the infamous Evin prison where she was tortured. Her family has not been allowed to visit her since May, the group said.

Moradi was not allowed to defend herself, and the judge did not permit her lawyers to present a defense, the Kurdistan Human Rights Network reported.

“Iranian authorities use the death penalty as a tool of fear, particularly targeting ethnic minorities and political dissidents after unfair trials,” said HRW's Nahid Naghshbandi. “This brutal tactic aims to suppress any opposition to an autocratic government through intimidation,” she said.

Five other Kurdish men were sentenced to death in recent weeks on charges of “espionage for Israel," HRW said.

Four Arab prisoners from Ahvaz, Khuzestan Province, are at risk of imminent execution, after being sentenced to death by a revolutionary court with two other individuals for their alleged involvement in the killings of two Basij members, a law enforcement officer, and a soldier.

The four -- Ali Majdam, Moein Khonafri, Mohammadreza Moghadam, and Adnan Gheibshavi (Musavi) -- were arrested in 2017 and 2018, according to human rights groups.

Afghan citizens in Iran have been targeted, in particular, by death sentences, HRW noted, adding that according to human rights groups, at least 49 Afghan nationals have been executed in Iran this year, 13 in the past month alone.

“Iran’s revolutionary courts are a tool of systematic repression that violate citizens’ fundamental rights and hand out death sentences indiscriminately, leaving legal protections meaningless,” Naghshbandi said.

“The international community should categorically condemn this alarming trend and pressure Iranian authorities to halt these executions,” she added.

Mai Sato, the United Nations special rapporteur on the human rights situation in Iran, has also voiced concern about the "alarming" increase in the number of executions.

"In August 2024 alone, at least 93 people were executed, with nearly half in relation to drug offences," Sato said on November 1.

Nila Ibrahimi, an Afghan teenager living in Canada, has been awarded the prestigious International Children's Peace Prize for her efforts in advocating for the rights of girls in her native country. "The young change-maker's courageous efforts to advocate for the rights of Afghan girls has seen her recognized as a true inspiration, offering a message of hope for other young people around the world," the Amsterdam-based organizers said on November 19. Following the return to power of the repressive Taliban extremist group in 2021, the 17-year-old fled the country with her family, first to Pakistan, then to Canada, where she lives now. The Taliban has been assailed by international groups and Western leaders for human rights abuses, especially against girls and women.

Zholya Parsi, a women's rights activist in Afghanistan, and imprisoned Tajik lawyer Manuchehr Kholiqnazarov have been declared co-winners of the prestigious Martin Ennals Award, often referred to as the Nobel Prize for human rights.

"Two outstanding human rights defenders who have made it their life mission to protect human rights in Afghanistan and in Tajikistan will receive the Martin Ennals Award 2024 on November 21" in Geneva as the award marks its 30th anniversary, organizers said on November 19.

The two "have shown exceptional courage and determination to bring human rights at the forefront despite evolving in deeply repressive environments," the group said.

It is not clear if Parsi would be allowed to travel to the award ceremony, while Kholiqnazarov remains imprisoned in his home country, serving a 16-year sentence.

The jury consisted of 10 leading human rights organizations, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch.

SEE ALSO:

Women Stage Small Demonstration In Kabul To Demand Rights

Parsi, a teach from Kabul, founded the Spontaneous Movement of Afghan Women (SMAW) to protest the return of policies and practices against women's rights and fundamental freedoms following the extremist Taliban’s return to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

The movement quickly grew in Kabul and elsewhere in Afghanistan and now has 180 members and has mobilized communities to resist the Taliban’s policies and practices, organizers said.

Parsi was arrested in the street by armed Taliban members in September 2023 and detained along with her son.

"She was released after three months of torture and ill-treatment under their custody, which further strengthened her resolve to resist Taliban oppression and repression," award organizers said.

Since returning to power, the Taliban has been assailed by international groups and Western nations -- which have not yet officially recognized the extremist group as legitimate rulers -- for human rights violations, especially those against women and girls.

Kholiqnazarov is director of the Lawyers Association of Pamir, one of the few civil society organizations active in Tajikistan's Gorno-Badakhshan region.

After mass protests erupted in the region in November 2021 following the extrajudicial killing of Khorugh district resident Gulbiddin Ziyobekov, Kholiqnazarov joined the Commission 44 organization in which members of law enforcement agencies and local civil society representatives joined to investigate the reasons behind the unrest.

But in May 2022, the Tajik authorities renewed their crackdown on protests in the region, leading to the arrest of Kholiqnazarov and a dozen other members of Commission 44.

In December 2022, the Supreme Court sentenced Kholiqnazarov to 16 years in prison after finding him guilty of being part of a criminal organization and of participating in the activities of a banned organization engaged in extremist activities.

Kholiqnazarov pleaded not guilty to the charges.

"We are very proud to honor these two exceptional laureates," said Hans Thoolen, chair of the Martin Ennals Award Jury, said.

One Chinese national was killed and five others, four of them Chinese, were injured in a cross-border attack in Tajikistan's Zarbuzi Gorge, two sources close to a Tajik investigation told RFE/RL's Tajik Service on November 18.

The incident, which occurred in the southeastern Shamsiddin Shohin district, bordering Afghanistan, has not yet been officially addressed by the Tajik authorities.

According to the sources, the attack was carried out by armed individuals who crossed the border from Afghanistan. It remains unclear whether the attackers were criminals possibly involved in drug trafficking, a crime that is common in the area, or members of a militant group.

"Among the five injured, four are Chinese nationals and one is a local resident. All have been hospitalized in the Shamsiddin Shohin district," one of the sources said.

The Chinese nationals were reportedly working at a gold mine in the Zarbuzi Gorge. The attack marks the first known incident resulting in the death of a Chinese national in the volatile region.

The Shamsiddin Shohin district shares a porous border with Afghanistan that is often crossed by smugglers and militant groups.

Although the Taliban has assured neighboring countries that Afghan territory will not serve as a base for terrorist activities, Tajik authorities have been on high alert in recent years.

SEE ALSO:

Tajikistan Concerned By Provocative Taliban Watchtower On Border

The deadly attack underscores persistent security concerns along Tajikistan's southern frontier.

In August 2023, Tajikistan's State Committee for National Security reported killing three members of the banned Ansarullah militant group and seizing weapons in a separate cross-border operation.

These incidents highlight the ongoing threats posed by instability in Afghanistan, despite regional efforts to secure the border.

As the annual UN climate conference (COP29) takes place in Baku, RFE/RL presents exclusive coverage of environmental issues that are often underreported from regions that are often overlooked.

One of the world’s poorest countries, Afghanistan is also among the leading nations affected by climate change.

Decades of war and environmental degradation have made Afghanistan the fourth most vulnerable country in the world to the impacts of climate change.

Rising temperatures have exacerbated the frequency and severity of natural disasters, including droughts, floods, and landslides, experts say.

SEE ALSO:

Azerbaijan Eyes Prestige Boost From Hosting COP29, Despite The Critics

Deadly natural disasters in recent years have, in turn, aggravated the devastating humanitarian and economic crises in Afghanistan, where millions are at risk of starvation.

Climate change presents unique challenges to Afghanistan’s population of some 40 million, experts say, with around 80 percent of its people dependent on natural resources for their livelihoods.

The collapse of the Western-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s seizure of power in 2021 has complicated Afghanistan’s ability to deal with the climate change crisis.

In the wake of the Taliban takeover, international donors immediately halted billions in development aid. International humanitarian assistance, meanwhile, has sharply receded in recent years, partly due to the extremist group’s dismal human rights record.

A Taliban delegation is participating as an observer at the UN Climate Conference in Baku. But the Taliban’s cash-strapped and unrecognized government is unlikely to attract the international assistance needed for Afghanistan to adapt to and mitigate the effects of climate change.

Afghanistan contributes little to global emissions but has experienced rapid temperature rises. Since 1950, its mean temperature has risen 1.8 degrees Celsius, higher than the global average of 1.5 degrees Celsius.

Rising temperatures have “wreaked havoc on agriculture and the agricultural value chain -- the country’s economic backbone,” according to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP).

WATCH: Grappling with the most expensive electricity prices in South Asia, many Pakistanis are going off-grid and turning to low-cost solar panels from China. But the shift to solar risks creating a new fiscal crisis for the government.

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Pakistanis' Passion For Chinese Solar Panels Worries State Power Supplier (Video)

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Floods in the spring and summer killed more than 300 Afghans, displaced more than 20,000, and destroyed thousands of homes and hectares of farmland. The UNDP estimates that the floods caused more than $400 million in annual economic losses.

Afghanistan is a major source of fresh water for its neighbors. But climate change has rapidly increased water scarcity by decimating the country's hydrological infrastructure.

UNICEF, the UN's children's agency, estimates that eight out of every 10 Afghans no longer have access to safe drinking water.

More than 64 percent of Afghanistan's population is dealing with drought, pushing an increasing number of Afghans into food insecurity, according to the UN.

Data by the International Organization for Migration (IOM) also shows that “climate change is increasingly a trigger for internal displacement as well as migration out of Afghanistan.”

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm watching in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

A delegation of Taliban officials is attending the UN climate talks in Baku for the first time since returning to power three years ago.

The unrecognized Taliban government was not invited to the previous three COP meetings in Britain, Egypt, and the United Arab Emirates, despite Afghanistan’s status as one of the nations most vulnerable to the ravages of climate change.

The head of the Taliban’s National Environmental Protection Agency, Matuil Haq Khalis, is seeking international support to mitigate the worst impacts of frequent extreme weather events.

“At COP29, we ask global leaders to respect the challenges faced by vulnerable populations about climate change and climate justice,” he said.

Why It's Important: According to the Inform Risk Index, a global risk assessment of humanitarian crises, Afghanistan is the fourth most at-risk country for a crisis due to climate change.

Despite being one of the lowest emitters of greenhouse gases, Afghanistan is already undergoing rapid climate change.

According to the UN, the country’s mean annual temperature has risen by 1.8 degrees Celsius, “thus intensifying glacier and snow melt, which provide water to rivers during summer.”

With freshwater resources shrinking dramatically, the UN's children's agency, UNICEF, estimates that eight out of every 10 Afghans now drink unsafe water.

In 2022, 64 percent of households reported drought as “the most frequent shock.” Most of the country’s 34 provinces now regularly experience drought, floods, or heavy rainfall.

In spring and summer this year, flash floods killed hundreds and displaced thousands in northern Afghan provinces. Climate change has now overtaken conflict as the leading cause of displacement in the war-ravaged country.

Irregular and severe weather patterns now threaten agriculture and animal husbandry -- the primary sources of livelihood in the Afghan countryside.

What's Next: Without a marked improvement in governance and international recognition, the Taliban is unlikely to partner with the international community to address Afghanistan's looming climate disaster.

The Islamist group’s human rights record and mounting restrictions on women and aid groups already hamper the diminishing humanitarian assistance it receives.

Unfortunately, this approach will deprive some of the most vulnerable Afghan communities from receiving much-needed climate adaptation and mitigation projects.

What To Keep An Eye On

In the latest instance of capital punishment, the Taliban publicly executed an Afghan man at a sports stadium.

On November 13, Muhammad Ayaz Asad was shot dead in the southeastern city of Gardaz. A Taliban court had sentenced him for killing Saif-ul-Qatal, another Afghan man, with a Kalashnikov rifle.

He was killed after the victim’s family refused to accept “diyat,” an Islamic concept in which the victim’s family can pardon the murderer for blood money.

The execution at the hands of the victim's family is part of "qisas," or retributive Islamic punishment for alleged violent crimes.

The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan said executions carried out in public “are contrary to Afghanistan’s international human rights obligations and must cease.”

It called on the Taliban to establish an “immediate moratorium on all executions with a view to abolition of the death penalty.”

Why It's Important: Taliban leaders consider capital and corporal punishment a crucial part of their commitment to impose Islamic Shari’a law.

The extremist group has defied international criticism and domestic disapproval by carrying out these punishments publicly.

Such punishments are likely to continue and grow under Taliban rule, even while Afghans see them as part of Taliban oppression.

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,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

The Taliban on November 13 executed a man convicted of murder in a sports stadium -- the sixth public execution since the radical Islamist group returned to power in 2022.

The execution was carried with a gun fired by a member of the victim's family in the city of Gardez, the capital of the eastern Paktia Province.

The practice of "qisas," or retributive Islamic punishments, which can include public killings at the hands of victims' families, were a trademark of the Taliban's first stint in power in Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.

The Taliban's Supreme Court said in a statement on X that a "murderer was sentenced to retaliation punishment," naming the condemned as Muhammad Ayaz Asad.

Media reports said Ayaz Asad was executed with three bullets to his chest.

The statement said Asad, a native of Paktia's Mirzak district, had killed a man named Saif-ul-Qatal using a Kalashnikov rifle. It was not clear whether Ayaz Asad had pleaded guilty or innocent to the charges.

The death sentence was approved by the Taliban Supreme Leader Mullah Hibatullah Akhundzada following "careful consideration" by three Taliban military courts, it said.

Senior members of the Taliban government, including acting Interior Minister Sirajuddin Haqqani, attended the execution.

Haqqani is the leader of the Haqqani network, a U.S.-designated terrorist group considered one of Afghanistan's most violent factions.

The Taliban has revived the practice of "qisas" since the extremist group's return to power in August 2022 following the withdrawal of U.S.-led forces from the war-wracked country after more than two decades.

In February, three men were executed publicly.

Two, Syed Jamaluddin and Gul Khan, were shot dead inside a soccer stadium in the southeastern province of Ghazni.

At a separate execution, an unidentified man shot Nazar Mohammad inside a sports stadium in the northern province of Jawzjan. The shooter was said to be avenging the death of his brother, Khal Mohammad, two years earlier.

Such practices have been condemned by Afghans and the international community, while experts have questioned their validity under Islamic law, saying they are mainly meant to instill fear.

The United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said the executions "are contrary to Afghanistan's international human rights obligations, and must cease."

"UNAMA urges Afghanistan's de facto authorities to establish an immediate moratorium on all executions with a view to abolition of the death penalty. We also call for respect for due process and fair trial rights, in particular access to legal representation," the agency said in a post on X.

Turkish authorities deported 325 Afghan migrants over the past two days, the Taliban's Refugees and Repatriations Ministry said on November 10. According to the ministry, the International Organization for Migration will provide the equivalent of 150 euros to each of the deported migrants. In recent months, Turkey has intensified raids to detain and expel Afghan migrants, most of them undocumented. About 600 Afghan nationals were detained in police raids in Istanbul in September and were transferred to detention centers. To read the original story by RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi, click here.

The Taliban will attend a UN climate conference for the first time since their takeover of Afghanistan in 2021, the country's national environment agency said on November 10. The conference, known as COP29, begins on November 11 in Azerbaijan and is one of the most important multilateral talks to include the Taliban, who do not have official international recognition as the legitimate rulers of Afghanistan. The National Environmental Protection Agency wrote on X that a technical delegation had gone to Baku to participate. Matiul Haq Khalis, the agency’s head, said the delegation would use the conference to strengthen cooperation with the international community on environmental protection and climate change, share Afghanistan’s needs regarding access to existing financial mechanisms related to climate change, and discuss adaptation and mitigation efforts.

Women in Afghanistan are not forbidden from speaking to one another, the Taliban government's morality ministry told AFP on November 9, denying recent media reports of a ban. Afghan media based outside the country and international outlets have in recent weeks reported a ban on women hearing other women's voices, based on an audio recording of the head of the Ministry for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, Mohammad Khalid Hanafi, about rules of prayer. Ministry spokesman Saiful Islam Khyber said the reports were "brainless" and "illogical," in a voice recording confirmed by AFP.

Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. To subscribe, click here.

I'm Abubakar Siddique, senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm watching in the days ahead.

The Key Issue

The unrecognized Taliban government in Afghanistan said it wants to open a “new chapter” with the United States following Donald Trump’s victory in the November 5 presidential election.

In a statement, the Taliban’s Foreign Ministry said it hoped the “upcoming U.S. administration will take realistic steps to foster tangible progress in the relationship between the two countries.”

During his first stint in power from 2017 to 2021, the Trump administration signed a deal with the Taliban that paved the way for the complete withdrawal of U.S. forces from Afghanistan.

The agreement ended America’s longest-ever war. But critics said the accord led to the collapse of the U.S.-backed Afghan government and the Taliban’s return to power.

During the campaign, Trump defended the 2020 accord as a “very good agreement.” But he blamed President Joe Biden for the deadly and chaotic U.S. military withdrawal in 2021.

Why It's Important: Trump’s return to the White House is likely to have repercussions for Afghanistan, where the world’s largest humanitarian crisis is unfolding.

The United States is the biggest donor of humanitarian aid to the country, having provided around $3 billion since the Taliban takeover in August 2021. There has been a major drop in donor funding over the past two years.

“The sharp decline in humanitarian funding seems likely to worsen under a Trump presidency,” said Graeme Smith, senior Afghanistan analyst at the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.

Hameed Hakimi of Chatham House, a London-based think tank, said Trump could place conditions on U.S. aid, a move that would “increase the financial and humanitarian vulnerability of the Afghan people.”

Experts said it is unlikely that the incoming Trump administration would reverse current U.S. policy by arming anti-Taliban groups inside Afghanistan or recognizing the Taliban’s government.

“The Republicans will do everything possible to keep Afghanistan out of the headlines,” said Smith.

What's Next: Afghanistan is unlikely to be a priority for the Trump administration.

But a major attack on the United States or its allies emanating from Afghan soil could change that.

What To Keep An Eye On

An Indian diplomat traveled to Kabul for talks with senior Taliban officials on November 4-5.

The Taliban’s defense and foreign ministers held meetings with JP Singh, who oversees the Pakistan-Afghanistan-Iran division of India’s External Affairs Ministry.

“Both sides declared their common desire” to expand bilateral relations, mainly in humanitarian cooperation, said a statement by the Taliban’s Defense Ministry.

Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Randhir Jaiswal said the two sides also discussed “how the Chabahar Port can be used for imports and exports.”

Over the past two decades, India has invested hundreds of millions of dollars in developing Iran’s southeastern Chabahar Port and built a highway linking it to western Afghanistan.

In March, the Taliban announced that it would invest around $35 million in Chabahar Port, a move aimed at decreasing landlocked Afghanistan's dependence on neighboring Pakistan.

Relations between the Taliban and Pakistan, longtime allies, have deteriorated sharply in recent years.

Why It's Important: Singh’s visit to Afghanistan signals New Delhi’s interest in developing relations with the Taliban.

India was a key backer of the Western-backed Afghan government. But since the Taliban’s return to power, it has signaled a willingness to cooperate with the extremist group.

The Taliban’s tense relations with Pakistan has offered India an opportunity to boost its influence in Kabul.

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,

Abubakar Siddique

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Friday. You can always reach us at azadi.english@rferl.org

Welcome back to the China In Eurasia briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter tracking China's resurgent influence from Eastern Europe to Central Asia.

I'm RFE/RL correspondent Reid Standish and here's what I'm following right now.

Xi's Upside And Downside

Former President Donald Trump has declared victory in the U.S. election against Vice President Kamala Harris.

It's an outcome that will have implications far beyond the United States, so here's what another Trump administration could look like for China.

Finding Perspective: Beijing and Washington are the world's two largest economies and another Trump term will have a major impact on where the relationship between the two rival powers goes.

There is something of a consensus in Washington when it comes to Beijing, with a focus on constraining China's continued rise on the world stage.

Trump's previous term saw a trade war, with him slapping tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of Chinese goods and launching a global campaign against Chinese telecoms giant Huawei.

Four years of President Joe Biden, meanwhile, saw him adopt a more measured tone than Trump, but his administration also targeted Chinese tech industries with investment and export controls, as well as tariffs on items like Chinese electric vehicles (EVs).

Despite that overlap, there are still important differences in the short and long term for Chinese leader Xi Jinping.

The View On Trump: If Harris represented a more predictable approach and a more traditional U.S. foreign policy, Trump is the ultimate wild card for Beijing.

The former president has threatened upwards of 60 percent tariffs on all imports from China and has spoken openly of his desire to ramp up another trade war. None of that is good for Beijing as it grapples with a slowing economy and weighs how to use a potential fiscal stimulus.

But that short-term pain comes with potential long-term upside for Xi.

Chinese analysts have sometimes seen Trump's divisiveness at home and his "America First" brand of foreign policy as a net gain for Beijing as it tries to overtake Washington on the global stage.

That could look more appealing on the horizon if Trump, who has questioned traditional U.S. alliances, strains relations with U.S. partners in Europe and Asia and leaves diplomatic openings for Beijing.

Analysts saw Harris as looking to continue Biden's emphasis on building a network of allies and partners to constrain China, something that Philip Gordon, her national-security adviser, said in May, before Biden dropped out of the race, was an American advantage against Beijing and other potential U.S. adversaries.

"We're in a favorable position to win this geopolitical competition, to the degree it's Russia and China and other autocracies aligning against us.... It's why the president and the vice president have invested so much time in those alliances."

Yes, But: Trump has said that he wants to quickly push for the end of the war in Ukraine and has said that Taiwan isn't paying Washington enough money for the U.S. government's support, but the upside for Beijing isn't so straightforward.

While Trump bringing an end to the war in Ukraine -- if possible -- could embolden Beijing to act on Taiwan in the future, it could also free up Washington to devote more resources to the Indo-Pacific to more directly challenge China.

Why It Matters: Regardless of who would have won the U.S. election, Beijing expected little improvement in its tense ties with Washington.

Trump's victory now comes at a pivotal time for both countries, especially as Xi looks to turn China into an alternative center of global power.

Xi believes that the West -- and particularly the United States -- is in decline, and he remarked to Russian President Vladimir Putin last year that we are now living in a period of great historical change the likes of which we have "not seen in 100 years."

Kevin Rudd, Australia's ambassador to Washington who has met Xi several times, says that these views reflect how Chinese policymakers see the United States' trajectory and that Xi "sees the forces of history moving decisively in China's direction."

In his second term, Trump will be in a pivotal position to prove Xi right or wrong.

Three More Stories From Eurasia

1. Kazakhstan Inks Billions In New Deals

Kazakhstan signed eight commercial agreements worth $2.5 billion with Chinese companies on November 4.

The Details: The agreements were signed during a visit to Shanghai by Kazakh Prime Minister Olzhas Bektenov.

The agreements support a broader strategy by Kazakh President Qasym-Zhomart Toqaev and Xi to double trade turnover, which reached a record $41 billion last year, the Kazakh prime minister's press service said in a statement.

At an investment roundtable, Bektenov emphasized the potential for joint projects and industrial cooperation. Major Chinese firms also outlined plans to enhance operations in Kazakhstan, including energy initiatives and localized vehicle production.

There are already around 5,000 joint ventures between the two countries.

2. Slovakia's Fico Goes To Beijing

Slovak Prime Minister Robert Fico visited Beijing for a multiday state visit where he signed a strategic partnership agreement and backed Chinese diplomacy around the war in Ukraine.

What You Need To Know: Fico met with Xi on November 1 and said afterward that China's position on the war in Ukraine "is fair, objective, and constructive" and that Bratislava was ready to join a proposal promoted by Brazil and China to resolve the war.

Despite Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy rejecting the plan, Fico said Slovakia was willing to join other countries that China says have positively received it "and work with China to contribute to promoting a political solution to the crisis," according to a Chinese government statement.

Fico, who has criticized EU policies on Ukraine and has opposed sanctions on Russia, said Slovakia was "very keen on China's diplomatic efforts dedicated to regulating the conflict in Ukraine and have exchanged our attitudes on this fundamental issue."

3. More China-Afghan Deals

The Taliban's embassy in Beijing has announced the inauguration and operational launch of a new freight railway line connecting China and Afghanistan.

What It Means: It's another headline pointing toward warming ties between Beijing and the Taliban. Last week, China announced that it will offer the Taliban tariff-free access to its vast construction, energy, and consumer sectors.

But the devil is in the details. This rail line is not a direct connection from China to Afghanistan and instead crosses through Tajikistan and Uzbekistan before stopping in northern Afghanistan.

According to the statement, the first journey of the freight train to the Hairatan port has commenced, with an initial shipment of 50 containers expected to reach its destination within 20 days of its departure.

As with the ground-breaking ceremony for the giant Mes Aynak copper mine in July, the moves are important optics for a cash-trapped and largely isolated Taliban, but are likely to take years to truly develop into something concrete.

Beijing still has lingering security questions about Afghanistan and is hesitant about having too many direct connections between it and China.

A similar dynamic unfolded earlier this year when the Taliban announced a new road through the Wakhan Corridor leading to the border with China.

Despite the announcement of the completion of the project, however, a road link with China remains far from suitable for meaningful cross-border trade and there is little Chinese custom infrastructure at the border.

Across The Supercontinent

From Taipei to Kyiv via Vilnius: Taiwan signed an agreement with Lithuania on October 30 to donate $5 million to recovery efforts in Ukraine.

The funds will go to education, veteran rehabilitation, and safety training in explosives and hazardous materials.

Railway Collapse: The Serbian minister of construction, transport, and infrastructure resigned on November 5 following the collapse of a concrete canopy at the Novi Sad railway station that killed 14 people and left three injured, RFE/RL's Balkan Service reports.

Protests continue in Serbia and the role of Chinese and Hungarian companies involved in the construction of the station have also been in the spotlight. Serbian officials have said that while a Chinese consortium was involved in the station, it did not work on the roof that later collapsed.

Still, with the construction contracts kept secret -- a clause often requested by Chinese firms -- calls for greater transparency around the project are growing.

Finland's New Tightrope: Finnish President Alexander Stubb wrapped up a state visit to China last week where he met with Xi.

Stubb told Xi that North Korean activities with Russia were an escalation and provocation in a message delivered on behalf of NATO and the European Union.

One Thing To Watch

A survey conducted ahead of the U.S. election by pollsters at National Taiwan University in Taipei found that 56 percent of Taiwanese preferred Harris as the next U.S. president compared to only 16 percent for Trump. Twenty-three percent of those polled said they didn't have an opinion.

Winning over Trump -- who has spoken about reevaluating some tenets of Washington's traditional line towards Taiwan -- will be key for the self-governing island.

That's all from me for now. Don't forget to send me any questions, comments, or tips that you might have.

Until next time,

Reid Standish

If you enjoyed this briefing and don't want to miss the next edition, subscribe here. It will be sent to your inbox every Wednesday.

A fire erupted at a gas distribution company in Kabul, killing at least six people, officials said. Noorullah Ansar, a Taliban-appointed official with the Afghan capital’s Disaster Management and Fire Department, said the blaze, which erupted in the Paghman district on the evening of November 2, also injured at least nine others. Other reports said the casualty toll could reach into the dozens.

Barna’s working day begins early in the morning, hours before she enters her office at a private media outlet in Kabul’s trendy Karte-e Char area.

Barna, a 26-year-old Afghan reporter whose name has been changed for security reasons, says she carefully chooses stories to pitch to her editors via WhatsApp messages while she is still riding on a packed minibus in an hour-long journey to work.

“By the time I reach the Pol-e Sorkh crossroad, which is about 15 minutes from the office, the editors and I go through several topics to make sure we pick a story that is important and interesting but at the same time is safe enough not to anger the authorities,” Barna says in describing her daily work.

“We have many red lines. We have to avoid certain topics, and we have to tone down our criticism in order to survive under the Taliban,” she told RFE/RL by phone from Kabul. “Our work and lives are full of restrictions and the government continues to impose even more.”

Afghan journalists fear that they will soon lose what Barna described as their “last remaining freedoms” after the hard-line, Taliban-led government recently banned the publication of human and animal images as part of new “morality laws.” Unveiled in August, the laws also say that a woman’s voice should not be heard in public.

Several Afghan provinces -- including Kandahar, Helmand, and Takhar -- shut down most television stations to comply with the ban.

Television channels in these provinces have effectively been turned into radio stations, leaving dozens of cameramen, photographers, video editors, and others out of work. The radio stations, meanwhile, were prohibited from airing a woman’s voice.

Afghan media reported last week that all other television networks in the country have been given two months to follow suit. But a high-ranking government source denied those reports on October 29.

The source told RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi that authorities will “address the issues that some visual media outlets are facing in some provinces,” but did not elaborate.

A cameraman in Takhar who lost his job because of the ban said the latest restrictions on the media will plunge Afghanistan into the dark ages.

“It feels like we live in a backward society that does not care about progress and development,” the cameraman told Radio Azadi, speaking on condition of anonymity. “Media without photography and video is like a body without a head.”

Another Afghan journalist condemned the ban as “irrational” and “extremist” and said the government would not be able to implement the policy throughout the country.

A 27-year-old reporter in Kabul said Afghan media “would lose thousands of media workers” if the Taliban tries to enforce the ban.

“Many will lose their jobs, and many others will leave the industry because our work will become meaningless,” the reporter told RFE/RL on condition of anonymity. “How can you keep your audiences with male-only radio reports with no video and no music?”

Thousands of Afghan journalists have left Afghanistan since the ultraconservative Taliban returned to power in August 2021.

According to press watchdog Reporters Without Borders (RSF), of the 10,870 men and women working in Afghan media at the beginning of August 2021, only 4,360 were still working in the industry in December of that year. During that period, of the 2,490 female journalists, just 410 were still in their jobs.

At least 141 journalists have been detained or imprisoned under Taliban rule, RSF reported in August, but added that no media workers were imprisoned at the time of its report.

“The biggest problem is that we don’t have anywhere to complain,” the Kabul-based reporter said. “Who do you complain to when the culprit behind your problems is the government itself and it doesn’t care about the criticism from the international community or public opinion?”

Dream Versus Reality

In Kabul, Barna and her colleagues haven’t yet been told to comply with the new “morality laws,” but the staff -- like most journalists across the country -- are bracing themselves for it. Barna says her female friends working in radio and TV are fearing the worst.

“Women journalists are already the hardest hit, and we stand to lose more,” she said. “Most Taliban officials refuse to speak to female reporters, so we must ask our male colleagues to get comments from officials for our reports.”

Barna says officials from the Vice and Virtue Ministry have installed security cameras at her workplace and pay random visits to ensure female workers don’t breach the strict Islamic dress code.

The latest constraints on Afghan media workers come amid the backdrop of grinding poverty and unemployment in the country.

Several journalists working for Afghan-owned media outlets in Kabul told RFE/RL they earn between 40 to 70 percent less in comparison to the wages they received before the Taliban came to power.

Due to a lack of funds, many media outlets have eliminated benefits such as shuttle buses and free or subsidized lunches for their employees.

Barna earns the equivalent of $150 a month, roughly half of the salary she made before August 2021.

“I dream of having enough money and freedom again to go to coffee shops in Pol-e Sorkh with my colleagues, as we used to do,” she said.

Many coffee shops along the bustling Pol-e Sorkh Road -- once popular with Kabul’s young people -- have been closed or turned into so-called family restaurants.

“But for the time being, my main concern is not to lose the last remaining freedoms we have, such as being able to work in the media, speak to people, and watch a TV report,” Barna said.

Wider Region

The situation of the media has deteriorated in other neighboring countries in recent years, with many independent journalists and bloggers languishing behind bars for their criticism of authoritarian governments.

Uzbek blogger Shohida Salomova has been placed in a psychiatric hospital after she reported that the son-in-law of President Shavkat Mirziyoev had purchased “20 expensive houses" in a wealthy Tashkent neighborhood.

In Tajikistan, independent journalists who criticize government policies often face long-term prison sentences on trumped-up charges with trials being held behind closed doors.

In Turkmenistan, independent media are nonexistent, while several journalists have paid the ultimate price for their work. Among them was 35-year-old former RFE/RL reporter Hudaiberdy Allashov, who died earlier this year after a long illness that his supporters say was brought on by pressure from the government due to his work.

Allashov had been jailed, beaten, and tortured with electric shocks, according to police sources. No one has been brought to justice.

Soltan Achilova, one of the few remaining independent reporters in Turkmenistan, says authorities not only put pressure on her but also target her relatives, friends, and anyone who gives her an interview or a comment.

She says security services have bugged her phone, often hack her e-mail account and personal computer, and follow her “everywhere.” She has been physically attacked several times and once strip-searched at the airport.

“When I call someone, security agents contact that person immediately and threaten them with dismissal from work. If that person doesn’t have a job, the agents threaten their relatives with dismissal and even imprisonment,” Achilova, 74, told RFE/RL on October 27.

Despite the ever-tightening space to operate, Achilova is not giving up her profession, saying that without reporters society will become a dark, silent place.