RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 26, 2021 Afghan experts say urgent action is needed to protect the famed Minaret of Jam after guards disappeared and critical damage became visible on the cultural treasure. An apparent stalemate between UNESCO and Afghanistan’s ruling Taliban-led government has left the Minaret of Jam unguarded and in immediate danger of collapse,
New York Post: The cool 1960s-style lines of the Ariana Cinema’s marquee stand out over a traffic-clogged roundabout in downtown Kabul. For decades, the historic cinema has entertained Afghans and borne witness to Afghanistan’s wars, hopes and cultural shifts. Now the marquee is stripped of the posters of Bollywood movies and American action flicks that
#Taliban fighters shooting at remnants of buddha sculptures they blew up two decades ago in 2001. #Afghanistan video via EtilaatRoz pic.twitter.com/2mRyPB8l4H — Sharif Hassan (@MSharif1990) November 1, 2021 Ron Synovitz Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 10, 2021 A video recorded recently in Afghanistan shows Taliban gunmen using the remnants of the Bamiyan Buddhas for target
8am: The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) had pledged $2 million to restore the world heritage site, following widespread petitions for the preservation and restoration of the minaret. However, after two years, there is still no news about the restoration and protection of the minaret of Jam and its budget of two
Al Jazeera: As one of the largest ethnic groups in Afghanistan, the Hazara people have endured various forms of oppression from Pashtun rulers and governments, including slavery, systematic expulsion from ancestral homes and lands, and massacres. These experiences have led some to consider Hazaras to be one of the “most persecuted people in the world”.
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty October 18, 2021 WASHINGTON — Zalmay Khalilzad, the top U.S. envoy to Afghanistan, is stepping down from his long-standing role following the Western military pullout from that war-ravaged country, the State Department says. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on October 18 said Khalilzad, who led U.S. negotiators in talks with the
Michael Hughes AOPNEWS October 7, 2021 On Sunday, October 7, 2001, at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, George W. Bush in a nationally televised address told the American people the U.S. military had begun conducting airstrikes in Afghanistan in response to the 9/11 attacks. The moment marked the beginning of “Operation Enduring Freedom,” as well as
Middle East Reports: “‘Austria’s greatest achievement,’ an old joke goes, “is convincing the world that Beethoven was an Austrian and Hitler a German.” Likewise, credit must go to the Pashtun (Awghan) politicians who convinced gullible foreigners and “experts” that “Afghanistan” has always existed within its present boundaries and Pashtuns are the majority population. Therefore, they
In Nimroz Province in southern Afghanistan, archaeologists are working to preserve a number of ancient buildings that are at risk of total collapse. They appear to have the support of local Taliban officials. But a recent video showing the demolition of a historical fort has raised concerns that Taliban leaders might return to former
By Abubakar Siddique Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 25, 2021 The austere form of Sunni Islam that Afghanistan’s Taliban rulers follow is rooted in an Islamic seminary in Deoband, a town in the northern Indian state of Uttar Pradesh. It is an interpretation of Islam that is used by the Taliban to justify their clerical government