Judges at the International Criminal Court have formally closed part of the prosecutor’s Afghanistan investigations, ending a branch that previously examined alleged crimes by U.S. troops. The court will instead focus only on actions by the Taliban since 2021, according to court documents.

The chamber’s decision also closes an inquiry into the Islamic State Khorasan militia, known as ISIS-K. That inquiry had become part of the original Afghanistan investigation after attention shifted away from allegations involving American troops.

The line of inquiry concerning alleged crimes by U.S. troops had already been dormant since 2021. The latest ruling now formally closes that portion of the court’s work rather than leaving it inactive.

The office of the prosecutor told Reuters on Friday that it had appealed the judges’ decision. The office could not provide further details about the appeal or what arguments it would present.

The move marks the latest stage in a legal dispute between International Criminal Court prosecutors and judges over the direction of the Afghanistan case. Their disagreement has centered on how the broader investigation should be divided and pursued.

The decision also follows institutional sanctions imposed by the United States against the court. Washington cited its opposition to arrest warrants issued for Israeli officials and the investigation into the actions of U.S. soldiers in Afghanistan.

Earlier this year, judges directed prosecutors to separate their Afghanistan inquiries into two distinct investigations. One was to concentrate on alleged crimes committed by the Taliban since 2021.

The other was built around the original Afghanistan inquiry. That investigation included alleged war crimes by U.S. troops, although it had shifted toward examining the ISIS-K militia.

Judges said they closed part of the case because prosecutors had not demonstrated that they could effectively investigate allegations in Afghanistan outside the Taliban focused inquiry. The ruling therefore narrows the court’s active work in the country.

The division of the investigations does not disturb the arrest warrants already issued against four Afghan Taliban leaders. Those warrants remain in effect despite the closure of the other branch of the case.

The court’s decision leaves prosecutors with the Taliban investigation while closing the portions connected to U.S. troops and ISIS-K. Prosecutors, however, are challenging that outcome through their appeal.

It remains unclear whether formally closing this part of the Afghanistan case will ease American concerns about the court claiming jurisdiction over U.S. nationals. The decision does not alter the International Criminal Court’s founding statute.

That statute provides that the court may prosecute anyone accused of atrocity crimes committed on the territory of ICC member states. Closing the Afghanistan branch involving U.S. troops does not remove or rewrite that underlying jurisdictional language.

For the United States, the practical issue extends beyond whether one particular investigative track remains open. American concerns involve the court’s ability under its statute to assert jurisdiction over U.S. nationals accused of crimes on member state territory.

The chamber has now drawn a firm boundary around the Afghanistan work that can continue, leaving the Taliban investigation intact and shutting the door on the dormant U.S. troop inquiry and the ISIS-K probe. Whether the prosecutor’s appeal changes that boundary remains unresolved.