By Frud Bezhan Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty January 15, 2020 It was in the late 1980s when Ismail Qaani — then a local commander in Iran’s powerful Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) — first became active in Afghanistan. It was to be the start of Qaani’s decades-long involvement in Iran’s eastern neighbor, where Tehran has
Phys.org: After bearing the brunt of jihadist dynamite and looting by thieves, the archaeological treasures of Afghanistan’s Bamiyan province are facing a new and possibly more daunting threat: climate change. Afghan officials warned in a 2016 United Nations report that the structures “may collapse and suffer from severe erosion”due to conditions directly linked to climate change. The Global
Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty December 27, 2019 By Frud Bezhan KABUL — Afghanistan’s communist President Hafizullah Amin was lying unconscious in his bed. A KGB agent who had infiltrated Amin’s staff as a cook had poisoned the president and his ministers during lunch at the Tajbeg presidential palace in Kabul. It was December 27, 1979.
The National Interest: It’s well past time to let Afghans decide Afghanistan’s future without foreign “assistance.” During the early days after the 9/11 attacks and the initiation of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, it was relatively common to reference the woeful Soviet experience in that country. Here was a clear paradigm of what not to do
AFP: Gholam Mahaiuddin sighs softly as he thinks of his 14-year-old son, who was killed in the spring by a bomb dropped last century in the hills of Bamiyan province in central Afghanistan. “We knew the mountain was dangerous,” said Mahaiuddin, who found his son’s remains after he didn’t come home one day. “We were aware
Tolo News: Sculptures of nine buddha heads, and a torso, are being returned to Afghanistan from Britain. Experts believe that nine clay heads and a torso carved from schist shipped to London in 2002 were made in Buddhist monasteries in Afghanistan between 4 and 6 AD. The heads may have been broken off from torsos during
Ariana: Officials in the Afghan Film, a state-owned institution, said Wednesday that it is too early to have a judgement about Panipat. Panipat is an upcoming 2019 Indian historical film that portrays the “Third Battle of Panipat” fought between Indian army and forces of King Ahmad Shah Abdali, who is regarded as founder of modern state
By Frud Bezhan & Petr Kubalek Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty KRASLICE, Czech Republic — In the winter of 1978-79, Afghanistan’s communist regime deployed a hit squad to find and kill Babrak Karmal, the high-profile ambassador to Czechoslovakia. Fearing for his life, Czechoslovak authorities secretly hid Karmal and his family in a remote hunting lodge in
Foreign Affairs: Iran wants to see stability in Afghanistan. The Soviet occupation and subsequent instability sent an estimated three million Afghan refugees into Iran, where their presence strained resources and public services in many towns and cities across the country. Moreover, Tehran fears that Saudi Arabia will exploit volatility in Afghanistan to cultivate proxies on Iran’s eastern flank. Click
AFP: Sporting a black quiff and sideburns, Ahmad Zahir sang of love and heartbreak in liberal 1970s Kabul – a city now plagued by war and suffering, but where the popularity of Afghanistan’s “Elvis” remains undimmed 40 years after his death. Click here to read more (external link).