Suicide attack at tutoring centre in Afghan capital kills 19
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters A suicide attack at a tutoring centre in the Afghan capital Kabul killed at least 19 people and wounded dozens, police said on Friday, but there was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast. Many of those living in the western area where the blast occurred are Hazara, an ethnic mostly Shi’ite […]
Afghans keep close watch as some girls’ schools open, then shut
Kabul, Afghanistan Reuters Many Afghans are following news of a reversal in girls’ school openings in eastern Paktia province for clues on whether the Taliban will loosen restrictions on girls’ education after reneging on a pledge to reopen high schools in March. Some girls’ secondary schools in what is considered a conservative part of the […]
Afghan women open library to counter growing isolation
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Afghan women’s rights activists opened a library in Kabul on Wednesday, hoping to provide an oasis for women increasingly cut off from education and public life under the ruling Taliban. Since taking over Afghanistan a year ago, the Islamist Taliban have said women should not leave the home without a male relative and […]
Death toll in Afghan capital mosque bombing now 21 – police
Kabul, Afghanistan AP A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers killed at least 21 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 33 others, eyewitnesses and police said Thursday. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack on Wednesday night, the latest to strike the […]
Bombing at Kabul mosque kills 10, including prominent cleric
Islamabad, PakistanAP A bombing at a mosque in the Afghan capital of Kabul during evening prayers on Wednesday killed at least 10 people, including a prominent cleric, and wounded at least 27, an eyewitness and police said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the attack, the latest to strike the country in the […]
A year after Taliban’s return, some women fight for lost freedoms
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Monesa Mubarez is not going to give up the rights she and other Afghan women won during 20 years of Western-backed rule easily. Before the hardline Islamist Taliban movement swept back to power a year ago, the 31-year-old served as a director of policy monitoring at the finance ministry. She was one of […]
Blast in Kabul mosque, IS bombs in north Afghanistan kill 14
Islamabad, Afghanistan AP A series of explosions shook Afghanistan on Wednesday, the Taliban said, including a blast inside a mosque in the capital of Kabul that killed at least five worshippers and three bombings of minivans in the country’s north that killed nine passengers. The Islamic State group’s local affiliate claimed responsibility for the minivan […]
At least six killed in blasts at Kabul high school
Kabul, AfghanistanReuters Three explosions at a high school in western Kabul killed at least six people and injured a number of students, Afghan security and health officials said. Many residents in the neighbourhood belong to the Shia Hazara community, an ethnic and religious minority frequently targeted by Sunni militant groups, including Islamic State. “Three blasts […]
Explainer – What will happen to girls’ education in Afghanistan under Taliban rule?
London, UKThomson Reuters Foundation The Taliban have backtracked on a promise to allow tens of thousands of schoolgirls in Afghanistan to return to class for the new term. Most older girls have been out of school since August when the hardline Islamist movement seized the country. Girls attend a class in Kabul, Afghanistan, on […]
Famine may have been averted, but Afghan economic crisis deepens – UN envoy
Reuters Humanitarian agencies may have distributed enough aid in Afghanistan to avert famine and large-scale starvation, but the country’s economic collapse is “approaching a point of irreversibility,” the UN envoy to Kabul said this week. UN Special Representative Deborah Lyons told the UN Security Council on Wednesday that it is “most urgent” to resolve the root problems […]