Featured stories about Afghanistan
Stories about Afghanistan
30 April 2017
The Return of the Butcher of Kabul: What Does It Mean for Peace in Afghanistan?
Global Voices spoke with activist, journalist and author Akram Gizabi about the potential implications of warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar's return to the domestic political fold.
1 February 2017
How to Reintegrate the Afghan Boys Used as Sex Toys of Powerful Men?
The practice of 'Bacha Bazi' has been in the news a lot of late, but there is a shortage of political will to help victims.
28 December 2016
Five Things Tearing Afghanistan Apart and the Local Proverbs That Help Explain Them
"The goat worries about his life, the butcher worries about the fat.”
27 November 2016
In Afghanistan, Women's Rights Still Struggle to Take Root
"Being delivered into this world by someone brain-defected, the deputy to the Kabul clerical council must himself be without a brain."
22 October 2016
Kyrgyzstan Is to Kok-Boru What Brazil Is to Football
The equestrian contact sport Kok-Buro is a test of skill and strength, and at the end of a game the players often get to eat the trophy.
12 October 2016
Will Pakistan Carry Out a Threat to Expel 2.5 Million Afghan Refugees?
After decades of mixed hospitality, Islamabad says it can no longer host refugees from its war-torn neighbour.
30 September 2016
Afghanistan Prepares Warily to Welcome Back One of its Most Explosive Sons
"When will Mr. Hekmatyar be launched at Kabul?"
25 September 2016
9 Things to Love About Afghanistan
Some of the world's best bread, melons and pomegranates, plus a diverse people for whom hospitality is second nature. What could possibly go wrong?
24 August 2016
American University of Afghanistan Besieged in Suspected Militant Attack
At least 12 people were killed in the violence.
7 August 2016
Afghanistan's Hazaras: ‘Do Not Eliminate Us!’
"Never can a bomb silence the voice for justice and equality."
7 July 2016
Afghan Refugees: “Nobody ‘Wants’ to Leave. It Is About Survival.”
"Everybody is leaving Afghanistan. The only people who will be left there are President Ashraf Ghani and [Chief Executive] Abdullah Abdullah!"
17 June 2016
Who Was Jalaluddin Rumi, and Whose Rumi Is He?
As Hollywood unleashes a Di Caprio-coloured plot to appropriate the life of a famous Persian poet, older battles over his legacy are coming to the boil.
10 June 2016
Conspiracy Theories Find Fertile Soil in Afghan Social Media
"America is mother of Daesh [ISIS] and the grandmother of the Taliban. It supports Daesh by injecting Dollars. It supports the Taliban by injecting Pakistani Rupees."
2 June 2016
Is Social Media Helping to Perpetuate Violence in Afghanistan?
"Those who share the bloody pictures of victims not only irritate [victims'] families but also unintentionally assist the Taliban in their propaganda."
28 May 2016
In Afghanistan, Social Media Gives Rise to Hate Speech
"Pashtun zealots, water-carrying Tajiks, porter Hazaras and raw-brained Uzbeks, good morning!"
27 May 2016
Why Afghanistan's Hazara Won't Stop Marching
All Afghans are affected by the country's ongoing crisis of governance, but it is the long-suffering Hazara minority that has run out of patience fastest.
14 May 2016
For Long-Suffering Refugees, a Three-Star Respite in Athens
It's been a long, dangerous journey, so Ali Jaffari first thought it was a scam when a Greek friend offered his family a room at a three-star hotel in Athens.
11 April 2016
‘I Don't Want to be Burned Alive’: A Doctor’s Account of the US Airstrike That Destroyed MSF Hospital in Afghanistan
"The things that were constant in my nightmares were the roaring sound and panels of wood crashing down on us. And screams. Mine."
23 March 2016
How Afghanistan's Politics of Ethnicity and Honour Play Out on Facebook
General Abdul Rashid Dostum and General Ata Mohammad Noor have much in common, but whether online or offline, they speak to different audiences.
8 March 2016
Afghanistan's Path to Women's Rights Is Paved With Risk, but Built on Hope
From cycling teams to volunteers treating drug addicted men, Afghan women are carving out roles in a country wracked by violence and insecurity.
