THE HAGUE — Judges at the International Criminal Court have issued a decision to formally close part of the prosecutor's investigations into Afghanistan that previously looked at alleged crimes by United States troops, and to focus only on actions of the Taliban since 2021, court documents show, Reuters reported on Friday, November 13.
Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026
The decision formally closes not only the line of inquiry into alleged crimes by US troops — which had already lain dormant since 2021 — but also a probe into the Islamic State Khorasan militia, known as ISIS-K, Reuters said. The office of the prosecutor told Reuters on Friday that it had appealed the decision, but could not give further details.
Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026
The court's own Afghanistan page gives the formal step behind the report: on November 12, 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber I published its decision to close the record of the Situation in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, in a public redacted decision numbered ICC-02/17-253-Red. The court states that this does not preclude the prosecution's ongoing investigation in the Situation in Afghanistan II, and that these matters are currently subject to appeal.
Source: International Criminal Court — Afghanistan situation page
Why the judges closed it
Judges said they had taken the decision because prosecutors had not shown they would be able to effectively investigate allegations in Afghanistan apart from the Taliban probe, Reuters reported. Earlier this year, judges ordered prosecutors to split their Afghanistan inquiries into two separate probes — one focusing on alleged crimes committed by the Taliban since 2021, and the other on the original Afghanistan inquiry, which also looked at alleged war crimes by US troops but had shifted towards looking at the ISIS-K militia.
Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026
The splitting of the cases means the arrest warrants issued against four Afghan Taliban leaders remain in effect, Reuters said. The court's page records that on October 5, 2026, Pre-Trial Chamber II decided to unseal four warrants of arrest in the Afghanistan situation: warrants issued on July 8, 2025 against Haibatullah Akhundzada and Abdul Hakim Haqqani, and on September 9, 2025 against Habibullah Agha and Neda Mohammad Nadim.
Source: International Criminal Court — Afghanistan situation page
The second Afghanistan case that stays open
The surviving work sits in Afghanistan II. According to the court, the prosecution formally notified the Presidency on September 15, 2026 that on November 28, 2024 its office had received a referral from the governments of Chile, Costa Rica, Spain, France, Luxembourg and Mexico concerning crimes committed in Afghanistan against women and girls after the Taliban takeover in 2021. On October 20, 2026, the Presidency assigned Afghanistan II to Pre-Trial Chamber II with immediate effect.
Source: International Criminal Court — Afghanistan situation page
The original Afghanistan investigation was authorised on March 5, 2020, when the court's Appeals Chamber decided unanimously to allow the prosecutor to commence an investigation into alleged crimes in relation to the situation in Afghanistan, the court records. The new decision closes the record of that original situation while the post-2021 case continues separately.
Source: International Criminal Court — Afghanistan situation page
US sanctions and what the decision does not change
Reuters described the move as the latest step in a legal tussle between prosecutors and judges about the Afghanistan case, coming after the United States issued institutional sanctions against the court, citing US opposition to arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials and the investigation into actions of US soldiers in Afghanistan.
Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026
It is unclear whether formally closing part of the Afghanistan case will be enough to allay American fears over the court exerting jurisdiction over US nationals, Reuters noted, because it does not change the court's founding statute. The statute says the court can prosecute anyone accused of atrocity crimes committed on the territory of ICC member states.
Source: Reuters, Nov 13, 2026
What is solid
- ICC judges have formally closed part of the original Afghanistan investigation, including the dormant US-troops line and the ISIS-K probe, Reuters reported from court documents on Nov 13.
- The ICC's own page says Pre-Trial Chamber I published the decision to close the record of the Afghanistan situation on Nov 12, 2026 (ICC-02/17-253-Red), and that Afghanistan II continues.
- The prosecutor's office told Reuters it has appealed; the court also states the matters are currently subject to appeal.
- Arrest warrants against four Afghan Taliban leaders remain in effect, Reuters said.
What is only claimed
- Whether the closure will allay US concerns about ICC jurisdiction over US nationals is unclear — Reuters notes the court's founding statute is unchanged.
What happens next turns on the appeal the prosecutor has already filed, and on the separate Afghanistan II investigation into crimes against women and girls after the Taliban takeover in 2021. For Afghans and for the governments watching the court, the practical effect today is narrow but significant: one long-running file is closed, and the court's Afghanistan work now runs only through the Taliban-era case.