8am: The mosque attributed to Imam Ali in the city of Mazar-e-Sharif used to host thousands of visitors from across the country each year during Nowruz festival. This year, however, no official ceremony took place in the city, as the Taliban opposed the New Year celebration, even calling the festival as not in line with
8am: The year 1400, which is now close to an end, was full of dark shaded images that will be recorded in the history as Dark Year of the 1400s. On the occasion of welcoming the New Year of 1401, Mazar-e-Sharif, with a long history of hosting tourists and guests from across the country on
Ariana: Afghans have meanwhile called on the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan (IEA) to allow Nowruz celebrations to go ahead. We “urge the government of Islamic Emirate to mark the Nowruz festival as it was marked in the past years,” said Mohammad Asif, a resident of Mazar. IEA officials meanwhile said that there are two Eids
The Guardian (UK): Mazar, in the 1990s, was the most secular, socially liberal of Afghan cities. In the first two decades of the 21st century, it was dominated by warlords whose militias had defeated the Taliban. During this time, money surged into the city. And yet, last August, Mazar fell to the Taliban even before
By RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi November 6, 2021 Two people have been arrested in connection with the killing of four women, including a rights activist, in the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. A Taliban Interior Ministry official confirmed the arrests in a video statement posted on Twitter on November 6, saying the suspects confessed to luring the
8am: According to the female activist’s relatives, they have contacted local Taliban officials to track down the perpetrators, but have not received a positive response. According to them, there are currently four unidentified bodies of young women in the hospital morgue, whose families have not yet been found. Click here to read more (external link).
8am: Many families in Mazar-e-Sharif are selling their household items to fight starvation as poverty rises in the province. Balkh residents, say they provide food for their children by selling home appliances. According to Mazar-e-Sharif residents, there are currently no more heavy clashes and explosions, but unemployment has made life difficult for them. They call
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 RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi August 14, 2021 Taliban fighters have reportedly taken control of Mazar-e Sharif, a major northern Afghan city that is one of the last in the country still under government control. The August 14 capture of the city, located around 100 kilometers from the border with Uzbekistan, was a major setback for the
Atta Mohammad Noor and Marshal Dostum both fled to the border with Uzbekistan. Mazar-e-Sharif, #Afghanistan’s fourth largest city and economic hub of the north, has fallen to the Taliban. Another devastating loss to the government in #Kabul. Govt forces now only control two major cities — Kabul and Jalalabad in the east. That is likely