The Economist: Many Afghans clutch at their tribe rather than their country. These attitudes slide into political life. Regional politicians appeal to their own clan rather than to the national interest, and officials are often promoted on kinship instead of merit. None of this encourages good governance: ethnic disputes in parliament have ended in punch-ups. Similar
Press TV August 14, 2017 Taliban militants have seized control of a district headquarters in Afghanistan’s northern province of Faryab, officials say. Security forces were forced to pull out of the Ghormach district to avoid civilian casualties, said Nasratullah Jamshidi, an army corps spokesman for the northern region, on Sunday. The military official said after
AP: Extremism worsened after the 2001 invasion of Afghanistan by a U.S.-led coalition… The tribal regions were gradually overtaken by Taliban and in 2013 several Sikhs were killed, their limbs severed. The brutality of the killings and the threats sent thousands fleeing Pakistan. Click here to read more (external link).
Golnaz Esfandiari Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty July 15, 2017 In Afghanistan’s staunchly patriarchal society, women are often publicly identified by the names of their male relatives. Their identity derives from their relationship with men — who are seen as their owners. Afghan women live their lives as someone’s daughter, sister, or wife and often don’t
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).
Reuters: When women do report abuse or are arrested themselves, they find themselves at the mercy of Afghanistan’s patriarchal judicial system, shaped by sharia law, women’s rights campaigners say. Click here to read more (external link).
LA Times: Mohammad Mohaqeq has been doing something unusual in Afghan politics: posting pictures of wife Waheeda on social media. In one recent image, the senior government official poses beside her and their 7-year-old daughter, Hadiya, in front of a crystal-clear lake in the northern province of Bamian. Click here to read more (external link).
Xinhua: “The endemic war has destroyed our life, you see, it is more than three decades that the flames of war have been devouring the Afghans and this country. Today my greatest wish is to see ending of the war and restoring lasting peace in Afghanistan,” said a jubilant Kabul resident Mohammad Musa. Click here to
Tolo News: President Ashraf Ghani Thursday has approved the amended draft of the Census Law to authorize the printing of the word “Afghan” on the electronic ID cards as the “nationality and ethnicity” of the holder of the card, the Presidential Palace said in a statement. The long-debated matter was considered as a ‘potential hurdle’ for
Hekmat Sorosh VOA News / February 23, 2017 KABUL — At 21, Shagofa Alikozay is a bright woman who isn’t far removed from childhood in Afghanistan, which she illustrates with her photos, sketches and poetry. Her goal is to bring to light the challenges, problems and miseries of living in one of the world’s poorest countries,