Kate Clark

I no longer live in war, but war lives in me forever. I put the kids to sleep and am shaking with a cocktail of emotions, as if I am not hearing the distant sound of birds but rockets overhead.

Also very difficult to effectively conduct dynamic targeting without boots on the ground

Which means this is likely a 1-2 week heavy bombing campaign followed by a short period of strat comms bravado, some months of wishful thinking, and a long slog of diplomatic repairs with our allies & partners

Inside the Islamic Emirate’s Penal Code: Crime, punishment and authority in Afghanistan The Islamic Emirate has circulated a new penal code to Afghanistan’s courts, standardising punishments for everything from insulting the ulema to forgery, taking and giving bribes and casting the evil...

In our new report, @clarkkate.bsky.social examines the implications of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan's new penal code for human rights and the rule of law, including concerns about discrimination, confession-based convictions and the concentration of authority.
bit.ly/4cgPro1

Ramadan Mubarak to all friends fasting this month.

Pollution in Afghanistan: Air, water, waste and noise under weak governance Kabul’s winters bring a suffocating haze, as residents burn coal, wood and even plastic to heat their homes and use outdated vehicles, releasing toxic fumes into the city’s dry air. However,  perhaps ...

Kabul’s smog is only part of the story. Across Afghanistan, air pollution, contaminated groundwater, open dumping and persistent noise reflect deeper governance and infrastructure gaps.

Read the full report: bit.ly/4am5Vsj

'm laughing at clouds
So dark, up above,
The sun's in my heart
And I'm ready for love.

When a Girl Turns Up at the Door: How an Afghan custom helped one young woman refuse a forced marriage For women – and often not for men either – marriage is rarely a personal choice. It is usually decided by families, most often by fathers. In Panjshir province, some young women try to escape unwanted...

In #Afghanistan, marriage is rarely a personal choice. In Panjshir, some girls refuse forced marriages by turning up at a man’s door and asking to marry him. It’s called shingari.

This is the story of a young woman who said no and claimed her own future.
🔗 bit.ly/4agaTrQ

You can leave recycling/rubbish outside if you arrive by bike or on foot. Staff helpful.

Reviewing a Unique Mystical Novel Set in 1920s Afghanistan: Shabnam, a pathway to the sun The recently published English translation of the Bengali novel Shabnam, written by Syed Mujtaba Ali and drawing on his experiences of Kabul during the 1920s, deserves a closer look from anyone intere...

We begin the year with a review of Shabnam, a newly translated novel by Bengali author Mujtaba Ali - a lyrical novel set in the tumultuous period of the reign and overthrow of King Amanullah & rooted in Persian literary traditions of mysticism and epic love. #Afghanistan #Literature
bit.ly/451wH7H

What Afghans May Read: Banned books under the Islamic Emirate In 2025, the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan intensified its efforts to circumscribe the information available to Afghan citizens, following its October 2024 order to libraries and bookstores to remove...

In 2025, the Emirate ordered books removed from bookstores and libraries in Afghanistan and set up a committee to ban texts deemed “incompatible” with official beliefs.
bit.ly/4q2Zst2

Very sad to see that the Two Wheels Good bike shop in London N4 has closed. They've been helping me out since the mid-1990s, Jon and Paddy. Brilliant people: friendly, helpful and always had great music playing.

Claimed by Gunfire: How a single shot stole an Afghan girl’s future In parts of southeastern Afghanistan, a boy seeking to force a girl into marriage may fire gunshots outside her home to claim her publicly as his future wife, often after the girl’s family has refused...

A single gunshot can change a life. In one part of #Afghanistan, the firing of a rifle outside a girl’s home became the public claim of her as someone’s wife—regardless of her wishes. @HamidPakte69477 hears her story. bit.ly/4ri3YEY

'Only' #14 in the rankings of most dangerous junction for cyclists in London, but Seven Sisters Rd-Blackstock Rd-Stroud Green Rd is so nasty, even at night, I cycle through Finsbury Park at night to avoid it, dangerous men being less of a threat. @londoncycling.bsky.social
lcc.org.uk/campaigns/da...

So difficult to write a positive review, that doesn't gush but this is beautiful. Some lovely turns of phrase from @eleanorknight.bsky.social
#Glyndebourne
www.gramophone.co.uk/opera-now/re...

Please understand both that this is natural extension of the crimes committed at Gitmo for two decades, and also wildly, wildly illegal. This is not “complex” or “difficult” or related to security or defensible in any way.

Doomed Dutchman wants a wife: Wagner makes Opera Holland Park debut Amid the rough winds of late May, Julia Burbach directs Opera Holland Park's first venture into Wagner – The Flying Dutchman.

bachtrack.com/22/296/view/28 I spent a dark and stormy night in Holland Park for @bachtrack.com

UN Relief Chief calls on Security Council to act decisively to prevent genocide in Gaza Briefing to the Security Council on the humanitarian situation and the protection of aid workers in Gaza by Tom Fletcher, Under-Secretary-General for

Deliberate starvation is a war crime.
No one can say they were not told so.

www.unocha.org/news/un-reli...

Eid Mubarak to all friends who've been fasting this last month.

Christians in #Syria are not being massacred. #Israel bombed churches in Gaza. Assad bombed synagogues, churches and mosques in Syria. Don't fall for propaganda like below.

On International Women's Day, we present a new dossier which brings together all our reports on women since just before the fall of the Republic and rise of the Emirate: education, work, dress, inheritance, child marriage...
bit.ly/4bw3jIB

Israel cuts off Gaza aid to pressure Hamas to accept a new ceasefire proposal The prime minister's office did not elaborate on the decision but warned of “additional consequences” if Hamas does not accept what Israel says is a U.S. proposal for an extension of the ceasefire.

Given ICC charges on deliberate starvation of the civilian population, one would have to guess that international criminal law is not getting much traction with the lawyers giving advice.

apnews.com/article/isra...

‘No rules’: Gaza’s doctors say they were tortured, beaten and humiliated in Israeli detention Healthcare workers are protected under international law yet hundreds were detained during the war. Now, some of Gaza’s most senior doctors have spoken of the violence and abuse they say they faced

This is horrible. Medical staff is #NotATarget. #Israel #Palestine www.theguardian.com/global-devel...

'Polio Cases on the Increase in Afghanistan: How is the Emirate handling immunisation?'
Available in English: www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/e...
And Dari: www.afghanistan-analysts.org/dari-pashto/...

Migrating Poppy Cultivation: Afghan poppy farmers in Balochistan After the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) banned opium poppy cultivation in April 2022, there was a movement of some farmers from southern Afghanistan into neighbouring regions of Pakistan to gro...

The IEA may have banned poppy cultivation, but #Afghan farmers have moved their cultivation to Pakistani Balochistan. They speak candidly farmers of dangerous journeys, bribes, spiralling land prices, and finding soil is variable and water scarce.
www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/e...

Migrating Poppy Cultivation: Afghan poppy farmers in Balochistan After the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) banned opium poppy cultivation in April 2022, there was a movement of some farmers from southern Afghanistan into neighbouring regions of Pakistan to gro...

After the Emirate banned #opium poppy cultivation in April 2022, some farmers moved to neighbouring Balochistan in #Pakistan to grow poppy there. AAN's @jb_AAN looks into how things have been going for them. bit.ly/4kmYsO6

“Political language is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.”

— George Orwell

Immigration? No thanks. Immigrants? Yes please Change Minds → Change Politics

We want immigrants but not immigration. Interesting analysis from Peter Kellner www.bestforbritain.org/immigration_...

In March, we introduced new 50% concessions for Santander Cycles targeting seven groups of Londoners including veterans, apprentices, disabled people and people on income support.

And we've seen over 20,000 new cyclists using this great offer. 🚲🚲🚲🚲🚲

🍉JEWISH BLOC TOMORROW🍉

Whilst our leaders refuse to openly condemn Trump's proposal for the ethnic cleansing of Gaza, Israeli state & settler violence continues to escalate in the West Bank.

It's more important than ever to make our voices heard: end arms sales, end the occupation, end apartheid.

The Taleban’s rise to power: As the US prepared for peace, the Taleban prepared for war It seems likely that the twentieth anniversary of the al-Qaeda’s 2001 attacks on the United States – the event that brought the American military to Afghanistan – will be remembered for the start of t...

Trump has form on negotiating bad deals to end conflicts. After caving into Taleban demands to exclude the Afghan government from negotiations, he agreed the swift, virtually unconditional withdrawal of troops from #Afghanistan.
#Ukraine
www.afghanistan-analysts.org/en/reports/w...