AFP: A vast field of towering white poppies sways gently in the breeze, silky petals sometimes tumbling to the ground, a visible marker of the resilience of Afghanistan’s lucrative opium trade. The sight of a seemingly endless expanse of opium-producing flowers is common across rural Afghanistan, but this farm is in the centre of government-controlled Lashkar
Tolo News: As the National Unity Government’s (NUG) term will end within the next one month, a group of 11 presidential candidates have started consultations on the establishment of an interim government to prevent “power gap” as elections are scheduled for September 28. The candidates said the incumbent government’s term ends on May 22 and that
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty April 18, 2019 John Walker Lindh, an American who pleaded guilty in 2002 to fighting for the Taliban, is to be released in May after serving 17 years in prison. Court papers filed this month said the 38-year-old, dubbed the “American Taliban,” will be released from a prison in Indiana on
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday met with members of the delegation who will hold a meeting with the Taliban in Qatar on April 20. He said the Afghan delegation which is preparing to hold discussion with the Taliban in Doha are carrying an important mission which is a dignified peace within the framework of
Ayaz Gul VOA News April 17, 2019 ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN — A new United Nations report has documented a modest decline in torture allegations in Afghan prisons, but noted its ongoing concern at the “disturbingly” high number of conflict-related detainees still alleging serious abuses. In its biannual report on the treatment of security detainees issued Wednesday, the U.N. Assistance Mission
Emran Feroz via TRTWorld: Foreign invaders and elite urban Afghans have long underestimated or ignored rural Afghanistan, and they have all paid the price of doing so. A few days ago, massive protests took place in the province of Helmand, southern Afghanistan. The night before, Afghan and American forces raided another home in the region. According to locals,
The Guardian (UK): A row has broken out in Russia over a film about the Soviet Union’s withdrawal from Afghanistan, after politicians and former servicemen criticised its unflattering depiction of Red Army soldiers as unpatriotic. Leaving Afghanistan, directed by Pavel Lungin, is based on the experiences of Nikolay Kovalyov, a veteran of the Afghan war who went
Khaleej Times: Afghanistan launched on Monday 43 tenders for natural resource projects as part of a global initiative to attract investment into its mineral sector that has assets estimated to be worth $1 trillion. Afghan Minister of Mines and Petroleum Nargis Nehan said 14 tenders would be opened for large-scale projects to international companies through a