Monthly Afghanistan News Roundup – May 2023
Ozair Khan
Within the framework of the Fiqhi Pathways project implemented jointly by CPI-Geneva and the Swiss FDFA’s Peace and Human Rights Division, engagement with Deobandi scholars of or close to Taliban and Pakistan is pursued to promote governance in line with IHL and Islamic jurisprudence through Fiqhi dialogue exchanges. This monthly newsletter hopes to keep track of the discussions and debates among scholars on issues of governance policies of the Taliban, especially in the areas of education, social policies, and statecraft and governance institutions.
International Dialogue
After several declarations indicating a good relationship between the Islamic Emirate and Iran over the last few months, tensions have emerged between the two neighboring countries over the treaty related to the Helmand River. The tone of Iran has changed, and it said it would not recognize the Taliban for the lack of diversity in its government. With interesting timing, Mohamad Muhaqiq, the former Vice-President of Afghanistan, says the Taliban are oppressing Shiites and Hazaras and that they have no decision-making power in Afghanistan. Mohaqiq is an ethnic Hazara and has close links to Tehran.[1]
Qatar’s Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani visited Kandahar for the first time. The Qatari delegation met Taliban officials, including a secret rendezvous with Afghanistan’s supreme leader Haibatullah Akhunzadah, his first-time meeting with foreign officials.
They all discussed ways of supporting Afghanistan to alleviate the impact of its current crisis on the economic and humanitarian front. According to international relations experts, this visit is a clear sign of Qatar’s importance in the realm of mediation between the Taliban and the international community. Qatar is encouraging the Taliban to back down on some of their rules and for the UN to recognize the Islamic Emirate.[2]
Another notable event with other international actors took place in Pakistan, which hosted a mini summit with China and Afghanistan that sought to promote trade and lower border tensions amid a surge of attacks inside Pakistan. Interestingly, as mentioned in the joint statement at the end of the event, Afghanistan has, for one of the first times, put in writing a commitment to disallow terrorist groups to use Afghanistan as a base of operations. The Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed that this written commitment will significantly help strengthen Afghan Chinese ties.
Since this meeting took place in Pakistan, Amir Khan Muttaqi, the Minister of Foreign Affairs, managed to meet some of his Deobandi counterparts from Pakistan, such as the famous Deobandi and political leader Maulana Fazlu Rahman and members of the foremost Deobandi institute in the Pashtun region Darul Uloom Haqqania. The display of affection between Amir Khan Muttaqi and Pakistani Deobandis is highlighted by Fazlu Rahman’s statement, where he explained that he is ready to give up his property and himself for the Afghan Taliban. He added that Afghanistan and Pakistan are one soul and will never be separated.
Some will see such statements as irrefutable proof that Pakistan controls the Taliban in the shadows. In contrast, others will see it as a mere diplomatic exercise since the Taliban are wary of Pakistan. A more nuanced explanation is more likely. Undeniably, these two countries have historical links and have long worked together, but the Taliban, on some issues, are ideologically independent.[3]
Internal Politics and Islamic Jurisprudence
The acting prime minister of the Islamic Emirate, Mullah Hassan Akhund, has been sick for the last few months, so Maulvi Abdul Kabir has been elected as the acting prime minister until Mullah Hassan Akhund recovers. Abdul Kabir was the acting prime minister of the then-Taliban regime in the 90s. There have been many allegations regarding Abdul Kabir’s recent appointment. Some have said it was due to Qatar’s influence since the Taliban announced Abdul Kabir’s nomination right after Qatari officials visited Kandahar. Abdul Kabir has been part of the negotiation team in Doha, and many think he can smoothen the Taliban’s relations with foreign countries. Others have seen the choice of Abdul Kabir as a sign of an internal struggle within Taliban ranks. Since Abdul Kabir comes from the same region as Sirajudin Haqqani, it indicates that Kandahar wants to exert control and avoid seeing the Haqqani network’s growth.[4]
On the front of girls’ schooling, there has been little progress. Although Amir Khan Muttaqi mentioned when he was in Pakistan that girls’ instruction is not prohibited but temporarily banned until issues such as the curriculum are resolved, the Taliban Minister of Education, Habibullah Agha, said on another occasion this month that there haven’t been many advances in these issues.[5]
As for women’s employment, the Secretary-General of the Norwegian Refugee Council, Jan Egeland, mentioned something quite surprising. He met with several Taliban officials in Kandahar, and according to them, they have “almost” completed the guidelines for Afghan female staff to return to work in Kandahar. It was likely just a statement to reassure Western officials.[6]
As it has been a trend for some months, this lack of pro-activeness from the Taliban leadership led some notable Taliban members, especially from the Haqqani network, to voice some indirect criticism,. It is counterintuitive to many analysts who view them solely as the promoters of suicide attacks but fail to realize their relative open-mindedness on societal issues.
For example, the Minister of Interior Sirajuddin Haqqani said: “The government should not be monopolized and small so that only individuals from religious Madrassas see themselves in it.”[7]
Anas Haqqani, the younger brother of Sirajuddin, declared: “We must prevent our youth from getting extreme ideologies. We must strive. These present political leaders must strive. We should no longer use harsh language against each other. We shouldn’t teach our youth harsh & extreme language.”[8]
Mahbouba Seraj, a famous militant for women’s rights in Afghanistan, criticized the West’s high publicization of the restriction on women in Afghanistan, making the situation at home worse for them. Women can be helped, but the West should do it with finesse. She also explained that the Taliban are very different from province to province and that in some of them, the situation is going well since some NGOs do have women working for them, but it is just that they are working to different schedules.[9]
Armed Groups in the Region
As for ISKP in Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate continued its crackdowns and announced it has killed the second-in-command of the Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) Engineer Omar.[10]
Regarding ISKP, Gulbudin Hekmatyar, the political party Hezb-e Islami leader, called for a discussion with the armed group that recently tried to kill him. He declared: “Despite the ISKP attacking our mosque, we still don’t want to fight against the group or any other groups with the word ‘Islam’ in their names.”[11]
As for Pakistan, the leader of Jamaat-e-Islami, a leading Pakistani religious political party, Sirajul Haq, escaped a suicide attack. Tehrek e Taliban Pakistan (the Pakistani Taliban) denied involvement in this attack. The group clarified that political and religious groups are not on their target list.
TTP is pleased by the political unrest ignited by former Prime Minister Imran Khan’s arrest. Sarbahkaf Mohmand, a key commander, said: “In the last two days, you (Imran Khan supporters) have successfully achieved your goals for which you deserve to be congratulated.”[12]
[1] https://ifpnews.com/iran-recognizing-current-taliban-rulers-afghanistan/
[2] https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/31/middleeast/qatar-taliban-meeting-intl/index.html
[3] https://twitter.com/ZawiaNews/status/1655346978719498240?t=8Nq7mUebPZXjbLdaBinUg&s=19
[4] https://www.thenationalnews.com/world/2023/05/22/talibans-cabinet-reshuffle-an-attempt-to-consolidate-power-analysts-say/
[5] https://www.voanews.com/a/taliban-diplomat-defends-policies-insists-afghan-women-education-ban-not-permanent/7083843.html
[6] https://twitter.com/Shamshadnetwork/status/1661329618941677569?t=VUkHxfZbFRyXjU-VTai3iA&s=19
[7] https://twitter.com/khalidzadran01/status/1656667047437406215?t=GkTfZ045btS0plN1u72Yaw&s=19
[8] https://twitter.com/MJalal0093/status/1661817506238021632
[9] https://twitter.com/MeetraQ/status/1654804179708260358?t=yQ_ALZxB4NdVxj-zKzwWbg&s=19
[10] https://www.google.com/amp/s/tribune.com.pk/story/2415660/iskp-second-in-command-eliminated-in-afghanistan%3famp=1
[11] https://twitter.com/AfghanAnalyst2/status/1654443270431178753?t=6kVVea8ZOLbeg8Rr4o8WWw&s=19
[12] https://twitter.com/khorasandiary/status/1656686487608369159?t=AYtLT_e78Z8OPV-9GAeUAg&s=19
