PhD @TheNewSchool. Adjunct Lecturer @AUAfghanistan. Prev. Visiting Fellow @SAsiaLSE.UNSW alumnus. Tedx: https://nitter.cf/t.co/cCE66FRzU5
Afghanistan
Joined November 2013
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Outrage over the Taliban’s authoritarian rule and denial of basic rights for women is justified. Isolating the country only punishes the millions of ordinary Afghans who are trying to put old divisions aside and move forward.
My essay for New York Times:
nytimes.com/2026/08/14/opini…
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
The international community must do what, exactly? Which governments should take which specific measures, using what leverage, and what happens if the Taliban refuse to comply?
Five years of condemnation have changed little. Conditional engagement sounds reasonable in principle, but further isolation risks worsening the suffering of ordinary Afghans without changing Taliban policy. What is the practical strategy for achieving change without making Afghans pay an even higher price than they already are?
Five years after the Taliban seized power, I reiterate my warning: the international community must not allow the Taliban’s regime of repression and institutionalised discrimination to become normalised or accepted as the status quo. The systematic denial of fundamental rights is devastating the lives of Afghans, particula women and girls. This demands urgent, sustained and principled international action.
🟠 I call on States to ensure that engagement with the de facto authorities does not confer legitimacy in the absence of measurable, independently verified improvements in human rights. Serious violations must have consequences. Accountability must not be sacrificed for political expediency, and those responsible must be brought to justice.
➡️ I am gravely concerned by the deportation of Afghans from Pakistan, alongside the deteriorating humanitarian situation and civilian casualties resulting from ongoing hostilities. States must uphold the principle of non-refoulement, protect civilians and ensure sustained humanitarian assistance. No one should be returned to a situation where they face a real risk of persecution or serious human rights violations.
🔴 The systematic assault on children’s rights is equally alarming. The denial of education to girls, child and forced marriage, child labour and exposure to violence are robbing children of their childhood and jeopardising an entire generation’s future. These violations must not be overlooked or treated as inevitable.
🇦🇫 Afghanistan’s children must not be condemned to a future defined by exclusion, discrimination and violence. Their rights, dignity and opportunities must be protected.
The international community must stand unequivocally with the Afghan people. The normalisation of repression is unacceptable; impunity must not prevail. States must translate their commitments into concrete action to protect human rights, ensure accountability and uphold equality, justice and human dignity.
🔗Read the full press release here: ohchr.org/en/press-releases/…
One of our biggest failings is constantly blaming our governments and the outside world for their shortcomings, but never asking ourselves what we have done as able individuals to make the situation better.
Afghans celebrated this bodybuilding hero Ali Bilal who was robbed of the Mr Olympia award for a second year in a row.
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
the recession is real
even al-qaeda is laying off its workforce
This story has been making the rounds. I hope @SharafatAmar can come out to clarify the official stance on the matter. Cornea transplants are life saving procedures that ought to be allowed.
Hundreds of people each year will be denied sight-saving operations in Afghanistan after the Taliban forbade corneal transplants, doctors have told the Telegraph.
🔗:telegraph.co.uk/global-healt…
BBC Journalist @Mobeen_Azhar shares a clip of him attempting to talk to the Minister for Press only to be shoved and denied answers. Mobeen presses the official on why he backed out of an agreed interview! State of journalism in Pakistan.
Herein lies the problem, when the state and its touts label anyone who says he’s a Mehsud by tribe as a TTP fighter and then take the liberty to mistranslate what is being said. He complains about his living condition and they claim the Taliban willingly published a TTP fighter naming his faction to the interior ministry. Zero integrity, full on racisim.
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
The exclusion of young people living in Afghanistan from a position claiming to represent Afghan youth is inexcusable. Consultation does not equal representative authority. The diaspora representative still decides who to consult, which concerns merit attention, and how those accounts are interpreted and presented internationally. This is all done through their own lens and experiences. It is essentially a form of gatekeeping, not a substitute for direct representation.
“security risks”: What precisely is the danger in discussing issues like Pakistani airstrikes, unemployment, floods, environmental degradation, economic development, or the everyday needs of Afghan youth? Where genuine risks exist, why deny young Afghans the right to assess those risks and decide for themselves whether to participate?
The treatment of Madina Mahboobi after her UN appearance also raises an uncomfortable question about whether the concern is solely for the safety of Afghans inside the country, or whether certain perspectives become unwelcome when they challenge established political narratives.
Visa restrictions and travel difficulties are obstacles that institutions committed to meaningful representation should seek to overcome, not use to justify exclusion. Select qualified young Afghans from within the country, advocate for their participation, and pursue remote arrangements when necessary. Otherwise, the process risks preserving international platforms for voices outside Afghanistan while denying those living with the consequences of international decisions the opportunity to speak for themselves.
Thank you for sharing this important concern. Selecting youth representatives from inside Afghanistan would pose serious security risks for them. There are also significant visa barriers and travel restrictions.
For these reasons, applicants must currently reside outside Afghanistan. However, the representative’s main responsibility is to consult Afghan youth inside the country and bring their voices to international platforms.
More details: aptyouth.org/guidelines-for-…
Today on Tolo I discussed how the deputy of the Pakistani military imposed setup for parts of KPK called the Taliban/TTP brothers who understood softer tones. This was especially ironic since the elected PTI government was deposed and falsely accused of being too friendly with the TTP. I also discussed recent reporting by Iran’s Tasnim Agency and Fateh Baloch claiming that Pakistan’s military was recruiting Afghans for a meagre sum to not only destabilise Afg but also use them against Baloch fighters. Pakistan attempted these military and political projects hoping to get US funding but might’ve realised now how futile it all was. Are the recent remarks by their imposed government official a sign of openness to have dialogue with Afg and the TTP? Better late than never.
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
Baloch journalist Fateh Baloch says former Afghan security personnel are still being recruited in various areas of Balochistan.
He says these personnel have camps in different locations and are also being used by Pak security agencies in various operations.
Full details in the video.
اذا جاء نصر الله والفتح
The majority consensus of scholars believes this to be the last revealed Surah of the Quran. Allah appears to be preparing the Prophet PBUH for his coming death whilst celebrating him for completing his mission & converting people in droves. Sallu Alaiyh.
Sadly this isn’t new. I remember concerns raised in closed circles about Afghan mercenaries being used in Balochistan all the way back in 2019.
Deeply concerning to learn about former security forces of the occupation regime in Afghanistan being deployed as mercenaries in Balochistan.
parrhesianews.co.uk/en/world…
CHO CHO! All four sections of Khaf (Khorasan, Iran) - Herat (West Afghanistan) railway project have been completed. 600 tons of cotton is on its way from Afghanistan to Turkey by rail. The heart of Asia beats again.
We had leaked intel that the Anti-Afghan insurgent groups were planning attacks on UNAMA staff members and yesterday we had one happen in Bamyan. Thankfully the staff member targeted is safe.
I think the Taliban do not need to do much for Afghanistan to be prosperous. The country has an abundance of water, arid land, a young population and a treasure trove of minerals. The Taliban just need to not sabotage themselves with bad policies or allow for war to resume
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
International economic restrictions, frozen Afghan assets and barriers to financial transactions have contributed to Afghanistan’s unemployment and hunger. With appropriate oversight and safeguards against diversion of funds, legitimate financial transactions could be facilitated and some restrictions eased or reversed.
The Taliban’s restrictions on women’s education and employment also damage the economy and household incomes. Both issues need to be addressed.
Ordinary Afghans should not be left to bear the cost of decisions made by their current rulers and the international community.
Humanitarian aid is essential, but Afghanistan also needs the opportunity to rebuild its economy and enable people to earn a living.
@FCDOGovUK @Ed_Miliband @EUinAfghanistan @UN @andyburnham
A third of the population of Afghanistan will go hungry this winter.
Close to 16 million people are currently unable to access the food they need as inflation, high unemployment, climate change and diminishing aid collide - 2 million more than this time last year. And this number will rise further if action is not taken today.
Mothers I met last month in Kabul and Kandahar told me they have too little food for their children, and feared the coming winter.
This is the consequence of the abandonment of Afghanistan since the Taliban took over - now among the worst funded humanitarian responses in the world.
We need an urgent scale up in support - particularly for women and children and those recently returned from Iran and Pakistan - to prevent families going hungry and the situation worsening further.
Obaidullah Baheer retweeted
Most importantly, ISK, which is considered a global threat actor, has been completely dismantled and obliterated in Afghanistan by the Taliban-led government.
All its cells have moved to Pakistan from where they continue to pose a threat to the region.
Afghanistans girl and women education and two very different approaches:
On the one hand there is the camp that’s inside the country and has good allies abroad. These people, men and women, agree on three fundamental matters. The Taliban are our Afghan brothers, there should never be a resumption of war and foreign intervention should never be wished upon the country again. This lot uses social media, traditional media and every chance they get to interact with Taliban officials to push for the opening of schools. They ask the international community not to starve the Afghan family to save the Afghan woman. There are informal schooling opportunities available today and that is the result of such efforts and Taliban officials allowing such schools to operate. That is not enough. A central policy change must come because education is a fundamental right. In the absence of that, they are still willing to recognise the good the Taliban have done in other sectors. There are still many other policies that need changing but they can and should be talked about inside the country and God willing change will occur.
The other group labels itself diaspora activists. They rightly share the frustration against the bans but direct all their pleas towards the international community. They do so whilst dehumanising the Taliban as if they do not belong to the country. The pleas demand further sanctions on the Taliban that only hurt Afghanistan’s economy further. Without an explicit solution being proposed, their calls accumulate to an implicit demand for another military intervention in the country. They refuse to acknowledge anything positive that happens in the country, choosing to throw the baby out with the bath water. Their own advocacy has led to the closure of the very same projects they worked for abroad and has reduced the amount of aid to the country.
The first camp understands their pain but does not agree with their approach whilst the second camp swings labels of Taliban apologism against all that do not imitate their strategy.
I told some foreign representatives the other day that it was quite unfortunate that the Taliban’s social policies regarding women and girls were ensuring that the astounding achievements they had were not recognised enough. These include: 1/
4) continuing and initiating major development projects such as Qosh Tepa, TAPI، Wakhan corridor, roadworks, many water and electricity projects despite little to no development aid or foreign help. 5/
Sadly the Taliban will not get much credit for these achievements while they make headlines for being the only country where women and girls are banned from formal schools and universities. I pray they #LetAfghanGirlsLearn and the world follows through with meaningful support 6/