The Diplomat: Opium has an analgesic effect and is the base for morphine, heroin, and other opioids that are used for medical purposes, but also for illegal drug consumption. Afghanistan accounts for some 70 percent of the global opium production, according to the World Drug Report 2016 of the United Nations Office on Drugs and
Michael Hughes: Afghanistan’s High Peace Council (HPC) is tasked with trying to budge the country towards some kind of peace process with a headless Taliban movement while the body faces an existential struggle against Afghan lawmakers. Moreover, President Ashraf Ghani believes negotiations must start not with the Taliban but with the group’s benefactors, although that is
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty June 11, 2017 Afghanistan’s government is mired in a war against a 16-year insurgency that has forced the capital into virtual lockdown, ignited deadly protests, and compelled the head of state to retreat behind the barricaded walls of Kabul’s presidential palace. But off the battlefield, it is also waging
Tolo News: A debate in the Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament) over a recent controversial land deal between government and Alokozay Group of Companies exposed predictable divisions among lawmakers on Tuesday when chairman of parliament’s Transport and Telecommunication Commission slammed the accord as violation of the prevailing laws of the country and urged the contract’s
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan May 24, 2017 Afghan authorities have arrested eight people, including the son of a lawmaker, after a rock-throwing crowd forced a plane to return abruptly to Kabul to pick up two lawmakers who had missed their flight. The May 23 incident has caused uproar among many Afghans, including politicians and people
Michael Hughes: The U.S. military-industrial complex is not some conspiracy theory, but a living creature on the verge of dashing hopes President Donald Trump will deliver on his “America First” credo and resist ordering a troop escalation in Afghanistan. The United States has achieved little after pouring some $1 trillion into the Afghan war, but a
Tolo News: Assadullah Omarkhail, the governor of northern Kunduz province, on Monday confirmed that the provincial administration paid death benefits to between 50 or 60 Taliban families in the province. He said that the move was part of government’s generosity. But, families of fallen soldiers and some military experts have blasted the governor for this, saying
Noor Zahid VOA News April 2, 2017 WASHINGTON — As Afghan security forces continue their military operations against the Taliban and Islamic State-backed militants in the country, the government plans to improve its security forces in the next few years to help beat the growing threat posed by militant groups, Afghan officials said. As part of
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan March 28, 2017 Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry has dismissed nearly 1,400 of its officials over alleged corruption over the past year, a high-ranking ministry official says. Deputy Defense Minister Hilaluddin Hilal told reporters in Kabul on March 28 that the ministry has taken significant steps to tackle widespread corruption, dismissing 1,394 officials
1TV: The open trial of four former officials of the Ministry of Urban Development and Housing (MUDH) were begun on Sunday in Kabul after almost two years delay. The four officials were tried on charges of embezzlement of at least one billion Afghanis in Khwaja Rawash and Hakim Sanayee housing projects of MUDH. The primary court