Why It's Important: The Taliban has waged a brutal war to eliminate IS-K, the biggest threat to its rule in Afghanistan. The Taliban has not commented on the reported death of the IS-K member. But it did not say when or where he was killed. The White House on April 26 announced that the alleged mastermind, whose identity has not been revealed, was killed in a recent Taliban operation. The Taliban has intensified its war with the rival Islamic State-Khorasan (IS-K) extremist group, killing several senior leaders and commanders in recent months.Īmong them, according to the United States, was the alleged mastermind of a suicide bombing outside Kabul airport in 2021 that killed some 170 Afghans and 13 American soldiers. Here's what I've been tracking and what I'm keeping an eye on in the days ahead. I'm Abubakar Siddique, a senior correspondent at RFE/RL's Radio Azadi. Welcome to The Azadi Briefing, an RFE/RL newsletter that unpacks the key issues in Afghanistan. 'Recognition of the Taliban - a violation of women's rights,' and 'We will fight and we will die for our rights,' the protesters chanted during the minutes-long march that was not suppressed by Taliban security forces. They want to hold a meeting to recognize the (government) of the Taliban,' Julia Parsi, one of the protesters, told RFE/RL. 'The United Nations will hold a meeting in Doha and they have not invited any women.

Since taking power after the exit of international troops, the de facto Taliban rulers have imposed a series of restrictions on Afghan women, including banning them from higher education and many government jobs.Ībout two dozen women marched in Kabul on April 29 ahead of a summit in Doha on May 1 that the United Nations says will discuss a 'durable way forward' for Afghanistan. A group of Afghan women on April 29 staged a spontaneous march in the Afghan capital, Kabul, in defiance of Taliban security forces to urge the international community not to recognize the militant group that returned to power in Afghanistan in August 2021.

Iobit malware cleaner