Winter 2023 Security Update

It’s been 18 months since we last updated our security advice and alot has changed in Afghanistan.

Our ‘Introducing Afghanistan’ group posing for a picture in Bamyan, October 2023.

Broadly our advice is that Afghanistan remains politically stable and the Taliban have a better level of control of the country than anyone since 1979.

Despite this travellers visiting Afghanistan should remain vigilant, behave with the utmost of cultural awareness and not become complacent about their security. Think carefully about where you are going, who you are going with and how your visit might be perceived.

The Taliban’s intelligence service known locally as the “GDI” have penetrated Afghan society at nearly every level – and we find that even when we arrive in the smallest of rural hamlets it’s never long before the bush telegram alerts local security forces that foreign guests are in the area. The greeting we’re offered tends to be warm, but thorough. Visitors can be assured several cups of chai-sabz or green tea to discuss their visit.   

Despite the over-zealous welcome offered by some Taliban reception committees, the groups tight control of security is generally an asset to us as tourists. Foreign visitors outside the major cities or away from the few big tourist sites are still rare birds in Afghanistan and local commanders seem to feel genuinely responsible for our security and to ensure that we are treated well. This can sometimes result in a desire to drive around with us or accompany us to places we don’t see any risk (…or have no interest in being watched over), but generally this suffocating behavior comes from a place of kindness and a feeling of responsibility towards having foreign guests.

In other place this hostile hospitality is sometimes driven by a pinch of suspicion as to why foreigners would bother to travel thousands of miles to visit dusty and ancient villages. The concept of tourism is still new and we still find ourselves explaining the concept of long distance travel for leisure to skeptical locals.

Commonly we are confused for an advance party of an international NGO and as the penny drops that we are not laden with dollars or aid projects, the commonest refrain is “Tourism? But there’s nothing here!”

Some of our guests sometimes get anxious about the attention which is being lavished on them, but as far as we are concerned this behaviour is generally more annoying than it is a threat. It’s part of the dance and the ride of bumping around in Afghanistan.

A Taliban member on a motorbike arrives to meet our group in Helmand. The motorbike is the main tool of the rural Afghan “Bush Telegram” service. The man identified himself as a member of the GDI and was initially concerned about our visit, before delighting in showing us around his village, posing for pictures and being the proud pashtun!

 Within bigger cities or in provinces like Bamyan, the Taliban’s are getting used to seeing more “tourists'“. This seems to have thankfully (partially) satiated their appetite for foreign visitors to present them with bits of paper or seek endless permissions to engage in mundane activities . There are now a steady drip of independent travelers who are making their way through the country, (despite my reservations) who have helped with this relaxation. These travelers are guided by a slew of whataspp groups, blogs and the occasional help from an evolving cast of local guides and seem to be having a great time.

 The independent adventurers tend to cluster around the same hotels, travelling similar routes on local transport – but they are getting things done, and I doff my pakol to them. I’ll be adding an update to my post about independent travel in the coming months. Outside of these tourist ‘hot spots” the law of the makhtub or permission paper still reigns king and has perhaps got worse. We still find ourselves trotting round the country with fat files of paper granting us permission to do this and that. It’s my least favorite part of the job.   

Street level corruption remains lower than it was under the previous government, but a trend for local Taliban soldiers to ask for tips or fees from foreign tourists is growing; for now it is only a budding annoyance. The request for ‘help’ is often made under the guise of the need to buy some meat for the weekend, or to buy the soldiers some medicine. This unwelcome step backwards is driven by Afghanistan’s economic situation which remains stark. Afghans seem to be getting poorer and poorer despite noticeable improvements in the country’s roads and an obvious glut of reconstruction and civil projects driven by the new government.

The situation for Afghan women remains dire – although this doesn’t represent a change, particularly in the country’s southern heartland. We generally haven’t had a problem getting foreign female visitors into national parks like Band-E-Amir, after women were banned from visiting them this year.   

There are still areas of the country where Taliban control feels less than perfect. During a recent day trip through Kapisa province and around Bagram airbase, checkpoints were either abandoned or local Taliban forces were largely hidden from within their hesco “sangers”. The Taliban reminded me of how members of the ANA had once looked at their checkpoints – scared and on their guard. The ANA were always stoned - their Taliban counterparts certainly aren’t.

Mark from the United Kingdom posing for pictures with local men in the Panshir Valley in October 2023.

 Local tensions remain high in these areas which were previously the heartland of the group calling themselves the National Resistance Force or NRF.  There are a conspicuous lack of young men on the streets of these provinces – many worked previously in the old regime’s security forces and have been arrested, have fled or are in hiding. There are tensions around land seizures and homes that have been occupied by the Taliban. Low level attacks and ambushes against the Taliban are frequent – it’s likely that a lot of it is driven by personal grievances against individual TB members, but all the same it’s not something we would want to be caught up in. It’s why places like Panjshir valley that under the previous government were some of the only safe places for foreigners are still best to avoid now.

 That’s not to say that you can’t visit Panjshir safely. With a day to spare in October this year we organized a day trip for a Safarāt group there – it’s just that there are other tonnes of other great places to visit in Afghanistan, where you’re less likely to spend the day sitting at checkpoints or being hassled by security forces who have flooded the valley. The risk is fairly negligible and manageable with the right behavior – but generally speaking, why take it at all?

These aren’t many places that are total no go areas in Afghanistan, but despite the flood of glowing Afghan travel reviews from western travelers there are also those who are less vocal about their detention or some other less than welcoming incidents. A traveler who recently asked a local guide to take him to a remote area of Paktia for example was arrested by the GDI intelligence service. Luckily he was released after 24 hours, but the situation is not one we would like to find ourselves in. The story is from unique and is fairly similar to how the British adventurer Lord Miles found himself detained for 8 months in a Kabul prison.

 This is the reason that most of our tours are planned around visits to rural places with archeological or historical significance. I’ll be writing more about this compromise in the coming weeks – some of our guests seem surprised that they are being bussed around the country to visit ‘tourist sites’ when the focus of the Safarāt project is about engaging with local people. The truth is that visiting underwhelming archeological sites sometimes give us an excuse to wonder around the countryside and hang around in places which might otherwise cause concern about our intentions.  

Preparing a fire for dinner in a village homestay with members of a Safarāt tour.

I’ve slightly digressed from my security update – but the point remains that visiting incredibly remote places in Afghanistan adds an additional risk dimension for foreign tourists. Tensions remain in many northern and western provinces between local and national members of the Taliban – and this often manifests itself at a local district level, away from provincial capitals. There are ethnic tensions within the Taliban itself in areas where local Tajiks, Uzbek or even Hazara have joined the group.

Lastly there remains a risk of ISIS or other extremist groups towards foreign visitors – a risk that is often rubbished by the Taliban themselves who have an interest in keeping the presence of the group quiet, but one you will hear frequently shared by local people. This threat generally increases the closer you get to the Pakistan border. 

 Luckily so far there haven’t been any incidents between these groups and foreign visitors – the focus of attacks has been against hazara or Shiite religious sites. But even within Kabul itself there are frequent attacks against Taliban checkpoints for example in the karte char area after nightfall. A good way of keeping track of these incidents is via the Afghan Digest on sub stack.  

An example of the kinds of attack logged by Afghan Digest against the Taliban in 24 hours in November, collected from open source data.

Many travelers seem quick  forget where they are whilst visiting Afghanistan, lost in a haze of cups of tea and selfies with smiling Talibs. The country is far safer than it has been in living memory, but remain reeling from over 40 years of conflict and a still uncertain future. Things still can and regularly have the potential to go very wrong in Afghanistan. Medical and trauma facilities tend even in the biggest cities to be appalling by European standards and most western counties still have no diplomatic relations with the new Islamic Emirate.

Safe Travels!