Ayaz Gul VOA News / November 30, 2017 ISLAMABAD — Pakistan says high-level discussions “away from public glare” are under way with the United States to bridge differences stemming from the new Afghan strategy U.S. President Donald Trump announced in August. Pakistan did not agree with the U.S. policy because “there was a difference in understanding
DW: Former President Hamid Karzai briefs DW on the continued security problems in Afghanistan. He advocates an immediate appraisal of what’s gone wrong, saying Afghanistan’s future is in the hands of the younger generation. Click here to read more (external link). Other Security News Explosion kills eight civilians in South Afghanistan
Tolo News: The Asia Foundation’s 13th annual public opinion survey of the Afghan people has found that this year there is a slight increase in optimism among the public which has risen marginally from 29.3 percent last year to 32.8 percent this year. The report stated that this year’s slight increase in optimism is difficult to explain.
The Diplomat: Afghanistan has recently been the scene of a debate on what the real name of one of its official languages is. Afghanistan has two official languages, Pashto and Dari. However, most Dari speakers natively call their language Farsi or Persian. According to Radio Free Europe, the dispute over the name of the language was
Reuters: The BBC is facing an angry reaction in Afghanistan after it changed the name of one of its local language Facebook pages to BBC Dari, the official name of the Afghan version of Persian or Farsi but one rejected by many local Persian speakers. Click here to read more (external link). Related Dari Or Farsi?
Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty September 12, 2017 Ahmad seems like any other teenager in the Afghan capital, Kabul. He goes to school, hangs out with friends, and lives at home with his parents. But the 18-year-old is hiding a dangerous secret that could get him imprisoned or killed: He is homosexual. Homosexuality is
The Economist: Many Afghans clutch at their tribe rather than their country. These attitudes slide into political life. Regional politicians appeal to their own clan rather than to the national interest, and officials are often promoted on kinship instead of merit. None of this encourages good governance: ethnic disputes in parliament have ended in punch-ups. Similar
Press TV August 14, 2017 Taliban militants have seized control of a district headquarters in Afghanistan’s northern province of Faryab, officials say. Security forces were forced to pull out of the Ghormach district to avoid civilian casualties, said Nasratullah Jamshidi, an army corps spokesman for the northern region, on Sunday. The military official said after
AP: Extremism worsened after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by a U.S.-led coalition… The tribal regions were gradually overtaken by Taliban and in 2013 several Sikhs were killed, their limbs severed. The brutality of the killings and the threats sent thousands fleeing Pakistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Golnaz Esfandiari Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 15, 2017 In Afghanistan’s staunchly patriarchal society, women are often publicly identified by the names of their male relatives. Their identity derives from their relationship with men — who are seen as their owners. Afghan women live their lives as someone’s daughter, sister, or wife and often don’t