Latest posts by Samea Shanori
Afghanistan Shows the Taliban the Middle Finger
Afghans have faced down the Taliban and their votes are being counted. Meanwhile, one candidate is already declaring himself the first round's preliminary leader.
Afghanistan: ‘My Best Weapon to Fight the Taliban is My Voter Card’
Afghanistan's voters are in a defiant mood as they ready themselves for the polls, ignoring an intensification of civillian-focused attacks by "desperate" Taliban insurgents.
As Afghanistan Faces a Critical Year, President Karzai Plays a “Risky Game”
As Afghanistan's president Hamid Karzai is dragging his feet on the new security pact with the United States, many believe that he is playing a dangerous game.
Empowering Women in Afghanistan: Interview with Anita Haidary
Global Voices interviews Anita Haidary, an Afghan women's rights activists and co-founder of an organization that works to empower women across Afghanistan.
Warlords, Democrats and Extremists – Afghanistan's Next Presidential Candidates
Afghans are reflecting on the list of candidates for their presidential elections in 2014. The candidates' picks for vice-president positions demonstrate the importance of ethnic balancing in the divided country.
Afghan Presidential Palace Targeted by the Taliban
An attack on the presidential palace in downtown Kabul on the morning of June 25 has terrified Afghans and cast a huge cloud over the future of negotiations between the government,...
As Kabul Gets a Bomb Attack, the Taliban Open an Office in Doha
A suicide bomb explosion shook a western district of Kabul, Afghanistan on June 18, killing at least three and injuring more than twenty. The explosion took place shortly before the...
Could Fawzia Koofi be Afghanistan's First Female President?
The search for the next president of Afghanistan is underway. Last fall, Afghanistan's Independent Election Commission (IEC) slated presidential elections for April 5, 2014. Voter registration started at the end of last month and will continue until two weeks before the day of the vote. Although a list of candidates is still yet to be finalized, some of the names expected on the ballot are already the source of intense discussion.
Afghan Leader's ‘Brothers’ Carry Out a Deadly Attack
In early April, Taliban insurgents stormed an Afghan court, killing and wounding dozens of people. While the Taliban admitted its responsibility for the deadly attack, President Hamid Karzai blames the incident on "foreign" Taliban and holds that local insurgents had nothing to do with it. Many ordinary people in the war-torn country are unhappy about Karzai's "soft" stance on the Taliban, whom the Afghan leader often calls his "brothers".
