Michael Hughes: A newly-released World Bank assessment suggests economic conditions in Afghanistan are improving just as UN agencies are warning that the country is on the verge of “systemic collapse.” Making the dilemma even more mysterious is the Taliban’s lack of transparency – for if business is booming, why isn’t the cash flowing to those
Al Jazeera: Sayed Muhammad Hussainy says it is his duty to help strengthen the voices of women living under the Taliban’s rule. When the Taliban returned to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghans fled the country fearing curbs on freedoms. Cartoonist Sayed Muhammad Hussainy was one of them. The 29-year-old artist, who has taken
Tolo News: The current government’s spokesperson, Zabiullah Mujahid, said that the Islamic Emirate [Taliban] was forced to take military action after being disappointed with the progress of the negotiations. These comments were made following the publication of a book by Mike Pompeo’s, the former US secretary of state. Mike Pompeo, the former secretary of state
Ariana: The acting Afghan authorities told a top UN official that they plan to draw new rules to let women in Afghanistan work in a few humanitarian operations. While talking to the BBC, Martin Griffiths said that the Taliban officials he spoke with in Kabul had given him “encouraging comments” even though the government has
Tolo News: Thousands of people across the country have held protests after the burning and tearing of the Quran in Sweden and the Netherlands, respectively. Earlier, Rasmus Paludan, who leads the Danish far-right political party Hard Line burned a copy of the Holy Quran in front of Turkey’s embassy in Stockholm, Sweden. After these incidents,
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi January 26, 2023 Sharafuddin stands on the side of a road in Afghanistan’s western city of Herat, fighting off his pangs of hunger with sheer determination to score enough work or food to get his family through another day. It was already an exhaustive daily ritual amid the relentless economic and humanitarian
Ayaz Gul VOA News January 26, 2023 ISLAMABAD — The World Bank has delivered a surprisingly upbeat assessment of the Afghan economy in the first nine months of the fiscal year 2022, citing high exports, a stable exchange rate and strong revenue collection under Taliban rule. The report stands in stark contrast to regular reports from
Akmal Dawi VOA News January 26, 2023 Less than two years after releasing all prisoners held by the previous Afghan government, including suspected terrorists, the Taliban are rapidly refilling prisons with new inmates. Over the past 18 months, de facto Taliban authorities detained more than 29,000 individuals on various charges such as theft, kidnapping, murder