ISLAMABAD — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a deadly bombing that targeted people trying to collect their salaries at a bank in southern Afghanistan. The bombing Thursday at a branch of New Kabul Bank in Kandahar city killed three people and wounded 12 others. All of the victims had gathered there to collect … Read more
The top two generals who oversaw the deadly evacuation of Afghanistan faced renewed scrutiny Wednesday as House Republicans escalated their campaign to hold President Biden accountable for the fiasco and Democrats accused Donald Trump of setting the conditions for the Kabul government’s collapse. Retired Gens. Mark A. Milley and Kenneth “Frank” McKenzie, career military officers … Read more
KABUL — The Taliban-run government is fostering a thriving community of YouTube influencers and video bloggers in Afghanistan, seeking to shape a positive narrative about the country by rewarding those who have welcome viewpoints with access to stories that can draw millions of views online. The Taliban, which smashed televisions and burned films in the … Read more
A new compilation of Lou Reed covers is on the way. For The Power of the Heart: A Tribute to Lou Reed, Light in the Attic has corralled a generation-spanning guest list including Angel Olsen (who collaborates with singer-songwriter Maxim Ludwig), the Afghan Whigs, Joan Jett, Lucinda Williams, Rufus Wainwright, and Rickie Lee Jones, as … Read more
ISLAMABAD — Afghan women feel scared or unsafe leaving their home alone because of Taliban decrees and enforcement campaigns on clothing and male guardians, according to a report from the U.N. mission in Afghanistan. The report was issued days before a U.N-convened meeting in the Qatari capital Doha, where member states and special envoys to … Read more
ISLAMABAD — Human Rights Watch said Monday that Afghanistan’s public health system has been hit hard following a sharp reduction in foreign assistance, coupled with serious Taliban abuses against women and girls, jeopardizing the right to healthcare of millions of Afghans. In a new report, the New York-based watchdog said this has left the “Afghan … Read more
ISLAMABAD — The Islamic State group claimed responsibility for a minibus explosion in the Afghan capital late Saturday that killed at least five people. The Sunni militant group said its members detonated an explosive device on the bus carrying Shiite Muslims, whom they called disbelievers, in a statement released shortly after the explosion Saturday. It … Read more
PESHAWAR, Pakistan — Unidentified gunmen shot and killed six barbers before dawn on Tuesday in a former stronghold of the Pakistani Taliban in the country’s northwest near the Afghanistan border, police said. No one immediately claimed responsibility for the killings in Mir Ali, a town in the restive Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, said Jamal Khan, a … Read more
TORKHAM, Afghanistan — The barren desert plain among the mountains of eastern Afghanistan is filled with hundreds of thousands of people. Some live in tents. Others live out in the open, among the piles of the few belongings they managed to take as they were forced from neighboring Pakistan. The sprawling camp of people returning … Read more
KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — Bahara Rustam, 13, took her last class at Bibi Razia School in Kabul on Dec. 11 knowing it was the end of her education. Under Taliban rule, she is unlikely to step foot in a classroom again. In September 2021, a month after U.S. and NATO troops withdrew from Afghanistan following … Read more