ODI: Based on first-hand interviews with more than 160 Taliban fighters and officials, as well as civilians, this paper examines how the Taliban govern the lives of Afghans living under their rule. Taliban governance is more coherent than ever before; high-level commissions govern sectors such as finance, health, education, justice and taxation, with clear chains of command and policies
Sputnik: Russian auto exports to Afghanistan date back to Soviet times, to the 1930s. The mass export of Russian cars started in the 1960s. Afghanistan was one of those countries where Russian cars, trucks and buses were commonly seen. However, during the Afghan war, Soviet and Russian cars wore out from wear and tear. Kabul’s
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan: Mohammad Mirza cuts a striking figure on the streets of Kabul, bristling with bright green plastic watering cans he sells to passersby. He says he’s 97 years old. Copyright (c) 2018. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave NW, Ste 400, Washington DC 20036.
AFP: With five sisters and no brothers, Sitara lives by the gender-twisting custom known as “bacha poshi”, which in Dari refers to a girl “dressed as a boy”, enabling her to safely perform the duties of a son in the patriarchal country. The 18-year-old, who resides with her impoverished family in a mud-brick house in a
1TV: Kabul traffic police have started fining drivers who overload their vehicles with passengers. Abdul Tawab Ahmadi, head of supervision board of traffic police, said that the measure was put in place following complaints by residents of the city. He said that drivers who overload a five-seat car could be fined 200 afghanis. Click here to read
IRIN: Thirty-year-old Mohammad isn’t sure who shelled his home in eastern Afghanistan’s Khogyani District: Taliban insurgents, or fighters aligned with the so-called Islamic State. But when a rocket-propelled grenade struck three months ago, killing some of his livestock, he knew he could no longer stay. Click here to read more (external link).
1TV: Residents in the city have suffered major electricity outage after militants blew up an imported power pylon in northern Baghlan province three days ago. Images posted by the company showed the pylon fallen on ground in Dasht-i-Kelagai following the bomb blast. Click here to read more (external link).
There’s a new library in Kabul, Afghanistan, but this one has wheels, part of a wider plan to promote reading and literacy for the children and teenagers of Kabul. As VOA’s Sayed Hasib Maududi reports, those who want to read a good book just need to look for the blue bus. Faith Lapidus narrates.
AFP: For centuries, the nomadic Kyrgyz people travelled freely across Central and South Asia, fording rivers and cutting across snow-capped mountains with their herds of livestock. Today they are stuck on the “roof of the world” — caught in Afghanistan’s remote and mountainous Wakhan Corridor with little hope of a way out. Political upheaval and violence
Millions of people saw our report on a 13-year-old Afghan boy supporting a family of nine, and many decided to help. Now he goes to school and has a normal childhood. (RFE/RL’s Afghan Service)