Sky News: Experts are meeting to discuss whether two ancient statues of Buddha destroyed in Afghanistan in 2001 by the Taliban should be restored. The monumental antiquities were carved into the cliffs of the Bamiyan Valley in central Afghanistan and had stood watch over the population for centuries. Now, archaeologists and restorers are considering whether the imposing
Noor Zahid VOA News November 29, 2016 The Afghan Taliban, accused by the government of destroying millions of dollars’ worth of national improvements, vowed Tuesday to protect a new natural gas pipeline, a cooper mine, and upgrades to highways and railways. A Taliban statement released by the group’s spokesperson, Zabihullah Mujahid, said Taliban leadership does
Bruce Pannier Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty November 29, 2016 The proposed railway line from Turkmenistan to Tajikistan, via Afghanistan, marked a milestone on November 28 when the first station on the Afghan side of the Turkmen border opened. Turkmenistan’s President Gurbanguly Berdymukhammedov and Afghan President Ashraf Ghani attended the ceremony at the Aqina railway station
Tolo News: Sayed Mustafa Kazemi, former member of Wolesi Jirga (Lower House of Parliament), who was killed in an explosion in Baghlan province in 2007, had been a skilled economist who tried hard to put his country on the road to economic success. Today, a number of his plans have been implemented. Two key projects Kazimi
Ayaz Gul VOA News October 29, 2016 ISLAMABAD — A U.S. government monitoring agency says that more than two dozen programs that cost more than $2.3 billion “were unsuccessful overall as implemented in Afghanistan.” The findings were released on Saturday by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), which is responsible for reviewing billions of
Tolo News: Afghan saffron has for the third year in a row been rated as the best in the world. The International Taste and Quality Institute in Brussels ranked Afghan saffron as having the best taste and quality amongst 300 samples from different countries, news agencies reported. The Institute was founded in 2003 in Brussels
Daily Caller: Rebuilding Afghanistan collectively cost taxpayers $115 billion over the past 15 years, but much of that money has actually been wasted on corrupt officials and even funneled into terrorist organizations, according to authorities. Congress created a Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) to monitor the billions spent on reconstruction, which concludes that pumping money into
Tolo News: The Asian Development Bank (ADBN) has approved a $31.37 million USD grant to prepare the Salang Corridor rehabilitation project to improve the efficiency and safety of movement of goods and people in Afghanistan and across Central Asia. In a statement issued by the ministry of finance on Saturday, it said the grant includes $15.92 million
Khaama Press: The construction of a railway line between Afghanistan and Iran officially kicked off near the western Herat province of Afghanistan on Wednesday. According to the local officials, the construction work of the railway line in Afghanistan launched as 90 percent of the railway work inside the Iranian soil has been completed. The railway line will
Khaama Press: President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani visited the central Bamyan province earlier to inaugurate the Bamyan airport and Bamyan-Kabul road as scores of people staged demonstrations against the government in the city. The demonstration was organized by the supporters of the Enlightenment Movement which was formed to protest against the change of a major power project route which was