We read a lot about women in Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s all-women orchestra founded in 2014 performed at the World Economic Forum last January 2017 at Davos in Switzerland, Afghan women participated in Bamiyan’s international marathon, the Afghan Aviation Forces are counting always more women pilots, and an all-girls robotics team from Herat wins a top European competition. […]
The impact of drug addiction in Afghanistan is an issue to be faced ASAP
Suffering from decades of war, the drug addiction in Afghanistan is proving to be yet another problem the country needs to face in order to achieve peace and stability. The article was written by Mir Sayed Fawad Ahmad Alaie, a Former Research Officer at UNODC Afghanistan is one of the main drug producers in the world; […]
Bacha Bazi, the ugly life of Afghanistan’s “dancing boys”
The nefarious custom of “Bacha Bazi” has centuries of history in central Asia, but only Afghanistan kept it to the day. What is the practice of Bacha Bazi? Bacha means “boy”, while Bazi has two meanings, “dance” and “play”, but when the two words are used together they can have more than one meaning, such as “dancing […]
“Butcher of Kabul” removed from UN black list. Who is Gulbuddin Hekmatyar?
It’s recent news that Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, known as the butcher of Kabul and Rocket Yar, rocket lover, has been removed from UN black list. But who is Gulbudding Hekmatyar? Sunni Pashtun born in 1947 in Kunduz Province’s Imam Sahib District, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar founded Hezb-e Islami Party in 1975 recruiting members from the Muslim Youth, Islamist organization of students […]
New surge of sectarian violence in Afghanistan
Recent reports reveal there is a new surge of sectarian violence in Afghanistan where Shiite Imams and influential elders have been under attack and killed. It started last year with the murder of Azizullah Najafi, a Shia member of Herat provincial council, followed with the killing of Shia scholar Sayed Younis, and a few months later […]
Talks over security in Afghanistan between Russia, China and Pakistan
These days talks over security in Afghanistan are being held in Moscow, Russia, even though no representative from the Afghan government has been invited. This is the reason why officials from the Afghan National Unity Government (NUG) have expressed their concern regarding the meeting that is taking place between China, Pakistan and Russia in Moscow. Ahmad Shakib, spokesman […]
Afghan ghost soldiers, how and why there are so many
In a country where corruption is endemic and common practice in every layer of the society and market, it comes to little surprise the high number of Afghan ghost soldiers. Every year Afghanistan earns the place of one of the world’s most corrupt countries, and today is less safe than any other time in the […]
New assaults on women’s independence in Afghanistan
A new harsh assault has been carried out in the last couple of days aimed at undermining women’s independence in Afghanistan. Afghanistan is arguably the most dangerous country for women and changes towards a tangible improvement of Afghan women life and condition is still too little and too slow. Last night unidentified armed men set on fire […]
10 year old Afghan girl found on basement after months of abuse
Robabeh, a ten year old Afghan girl tells local Radio Azadi her story of how she was held in captivity on a basement and abused by her 80 year old husband in the center of the Afghan capital, Kabul. In the past year Afghanistan’s human rights watch reported a variety of abuses, but the story of […]
Over 3 decades of war in Afghanistan, the effects on the society
By Sayed Asif Alaie After decades of relative stability, the overthrow of Daoud Khan in 1978 and the subsequent invasion by Soviet forces in 1979 marked the beginning of a lengthy and exhausting period of war in Afghanistan that is now close to its 40th year. As Mujahedeen resistance groups grew in strength, waging guerrilla […]