EASO COI Report. Anti Government Elements AGEs

English

The report provides an overview of the main Anti-Government Elements (AGEs) in Afghanistan, primarily the Taliban and Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP), with a focus on describing the modus operandi, structure and activities of these groups with respect to targeted killings and attacks on particular profiles.

The purpose of this report is to provide relevant information for the assessment of international protection status determination, including refugee status and subsidiary protection. This report is meant to be read in conjunction with other 2020 EASO COI reports on Afghanistan, which provide relevant information regarding topics such as state structure and security forces, customary justice and informal dispute resolution, targeted violence, security situation and armed conflict developments, key socio-economic indicators.

The report is divided into four sections: Section 1 provides a general overview of the situation relating to armed conflict and AGEs, as well as recent developments on the Doha agreement with the US government and the Taliban; Section 2 provides information on the main points of the structure and modus operandi of the Taliban and main targeted profiles related to this group; Section 3 provides information on the ISKP and main targeted profiles; Section 4 provides an overview of other AGEs operating in Afghanistan, such as Al Qaeda, Haqqani Network and Foreign AGEs.

This report was drafted by the European Asylum Support Office Country of Origin Information (COI) Sector.

The following national asylum and migration departments and organisations contributed by reviewing this report:

- Denmark, Danish Immigration Service

- The Netherlands, Office for Country Information and Language Analysis, Ministry of Justice

- ACCORD, the Austrian Centre for Country of Origin and Asylum Research and Documentation

The drafting of this report was finalised 18 June 2020. Any event taking place after this date is not included in this report.

This report was written according to the EASO COI Report Methodology (2019).

Policy

The general security situation in Afghanistan is largely determined by a long-term, ongoing, internal armed conflict which has resulted in many Afghans being uprooted or seeking refuge in another country. In order to assess the need for international protection, the Commissioner General takes into account the fact that there are fundamental differences between the regions of Afghanistan when it comes to the security situation, the nature and intensity of the violence.

Land: 
Afghanistan