The Wire: Earlier this year, Afghanistan took an unprecedented policy step in the battle against the ‘child bride’ custom by launching the National Action Plan to Eliminate Early and Child Marriage. Activists are hopeful the plan will become more than a piece of paper, despite clear challenges ahead and the government’s poor record for implementation. Click
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 19, 2017 Six Afghan girls who were initially denied U.S. visas to attend a robotics competition in Washington, D.C., have won a medal at the international event. The Afghanistan team was awarded a silver medal for “courageous achievement” at the event, which ended on July 18. The award recognized teams that exhibited
VOA News July 15, 2017 Afghanistan’s all-girl robotics team has arrived in the U.S. for a competition after President Donald Trump personally intervened to allow them into the country. The U.S. embassy in Kabul had denied visas for the girls earlier this month for unknown reasons. However, VOA’s White House bureau chief, Steve Herman, reported
Press TV July 12, 2017 Australian Special Forces are under a secret defense investigation for the unlawful killing of Afghan civilians, according to leaked documents, which provide new details of deadly incidents in southern Afghanistan. Hundreds of pages of secret defense force documents — many marked AUSTEO (Australian Eyes Only) — have been leaked to the Australian Broadcasting
Tolo News: The under-15 national football team on Saturday defeated Uzbekistan 3-2 in their third win in the Central Asian Football Federation (CAFA) championship – which earned them the trophy. Afghanistan won its first match against Tajikistan last week and went on to shatter Kyrgyzstan in their second match. Click here to read more (external link).
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan July 5, 2017 Afghan officials say six civilians have been killed by a roadside bomb in the western province of Farah. Mohammad Naser Mehri, a spokesman for Farah’s provincial governor, said the bomb was detonated in the Momin Abad area of the Shiba Koh district on July 4 as the victims
Gulf News: Zeerak the bespectacled orange muppet is the latest innovation from Sesame Street in Afghanistan: a children’s TV character who reveres his educated older sister, brought on to screens to show a new generation that a woman’s place is beyond the home. Click here to read more (external link).
Truthout: Four-year-old Alisina was playing in the fields outside her house in the Maidan Wardak province of Afghanistan, located 80 kilometers from the capital city of Kabul, on a mid-April morning. Only vaguely aware of the constant war that surrounds them, Alisina and her friends didn’t know the large metal object they found in the field
VOA News May 16, 2017 ISLAMABAD — The Taliban has categorically stated that seeking a peace deal with the current government in Afghanistan would be tantamount to a surrender to the “enemy” and contrary to Islamic faith. The insurgent announcement and reported U.S. plans of sending additional American troops to the war-torn country to help Afghan
MEHTARLAM, Afghanistan, May 14 (Xinhua) — Five children were killed and two others wounded after a mortar shell struck a residential area in Afghanistan’s eastern province of Laghman on Sunday, the provincial government said. “One mortar round fired by armed opponents landed in Omarzai locality in provincial capital Mehtarlam city roughly at mid-day. The blast