Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 19, 2021 Casualties were reported as Afghan demonstrators waving the national flag took to the streets of several cities to mark the country’s Independence Day in the first major display of popular opposition to the Taliban, a day after at least one person was killed when the hard-line Islamist militants
As the Taliban completed its rapid takeover of Afghanistan in recent days, they captured the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif, 23 years after last seizing it and massacring several thousand of its inhabitants. Two women who survived that massacre spoke to VOA about the family members they lost in the Taliban killing spree and their
By Mike Eckel Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 17, 2021 Chaos enveloped Kabul’s main airport, with thousands of Afghans frantically rushing to flee Taliban fighters while U.S. Marines sought to provide security for American diplomats and allies being evacuated. Across town outside the Russian Embassy on August 16, it was a different scene: Taliban fighters taking
By Golnaz Esfandiari Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty August 16, 2021 Abdul Ghani Baradar, known as Mullah Baradar, is a co-founder of the Taliban and senior leader of the militant Islamist group who is expected to hold a top role in governing Afghanistan in the wake of the Taliban’s takeover of the country. Baradar — the most
Jamie Dettmer VOA News August 16, 2021 The rapid Taliban offensive across Afghanistan that culminated Sunday with the flight of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was meticulously planned and executed with ruthless efficiency, say Western military experts. And they note the Islamist militants appeared to have learned from their tactical mistake in the mid-1990s, when they
By Frud Bezhan RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 12, 2021 PANJSHIR VALLEY, Afghanistan — With its soaring cliffs and steep gorges, this famed region has never been conquered by invading forces during more than 40 years of war. It was a bastion of resistance to occupying Soviet troops in the 1980s and later the Taliban, until
By Ron Synovitz RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 6, 2021 With the Taliban in control of more than half of all districts in Afghanistan, promises made by Taliban political negotiators in Doha appear to be falling by the wayside. The movement’s so-called Political Affairs Commission in Doha had vowed in a February 2020 peace deal with the
By Farangis Najibullah Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 31, 2021 Returning from work in the newly developed neighborhood of Shahre Naw, Zakiya Alemzada stopped at Bamiyan’s old bazaar to buy bolani — stir-fried flatbread stuffed with potato — for her usual, late lunch. But her regular small talk with the woman who sells bolani — for
Nafees Takar VOA News July 22, 2021 Editor’s note: The U.S. departure from Afghanistan marks another major turning point for the Taliban, the militant group with a long history in Afghanistan and a complex relationship with Pakistan. VOA reporters are looking back at the Taliban’s rise to power and the group’s previous tenure as Afghanistan’s
Tolo News: Ancient sites and artifacts are vulnerable to damage and trafficking due to the ongoing conflicts in various parts of the country, “especially in areas under Taliban influence,” said the acting minister of information and culture, Qasim Wafaeezada. He said most of these artifacts and sites are in Kandahar, Samangan and Balkh. Click here