GHAZNI, Afghanistan — The Afghan government declared Saturday that there was no longer a cause for concern about the strategic southeastern city of Ghazni falling to the Taliban. However, a reporter for The New York Times who entered the city on Saturday morning found insurgents confidently in control at every intersection. At Sanayi High School, where the day before there had been a large Afghan police check post, now there were a half-dozen Taliban fighters armed with rocket-propelled grenade launchers and AK-47s. “As a civilian your life is important to us, so you should go back to your village or home now,” their leader, wearing a black turban, told the reporter. “We don’t want to kill you, but we have orders not to allow civilians out in the city.” Both the government and the insurgents claimed to be in control . With cellphone towers destroyed, communications were sporadic and information from Ghazni was scarce. A city of about 280,000, Ghazni is on the main … [Read more...]

Barely 3 months after the chaotic U.S.-run troop evacuation from Afghanistan NATO foreign ministers met Wednesday to debate a rapidly compiled report on the lessons to be learned from the military organization’s 18-year security presence in the conflict-ravaged country. NATO took over the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan in 2003, almost two years after a U.S.-led coalition invaded the country to oust the Taliban for harboring Osama bin Laden, the al-Qaida leader who was shot dead in Pakistan in 2011. It helped build up an Afghan army said to be around 300,000-strong, although the force was so riddled with corruption that even real troop numbers were unclear. Whatever its size, that army withered in just days in August in the face of a Taliban offensive. In late August, more than 100,000 people were evacuated from Kabul during the frenzied final days of a U.S. airlift after President Joe Biden said American troops would leave. Thousands of … [Read more...]

By Anna Coren , Rebecca Wright and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN Updated 0019 GMT (0819 HKT) December 3, 2021 (CNN) Driving through a snow-capped mountain pass, the young mother huddles together with her six children in the backseat of a car after leaving their makeshift camp in northwestern Afghanistan. Carrying only a blanket for warmth, 9-year-old Parwana Malik balances on her mother's lap beside her siblings, as the family is rescued by an aid group that saves girls from child marriage. "I am really happy," Parwana said during the journey. "The (charity) rid me from my husband and my husband is old." Last month, CNN reported that Parwana and several other underage girls were being sold by their fathers so other members of their families could eat. At the time, Parwana's father Abdul Malik said she cried day and night before, begging him not to sell her, saying she wanted to go to school and study instead. Read More After an international outcry as a … [Read more...]

0 This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own. Tysons Corner, VA | Featured Event Tysons Interfaith , Neighbor Dec 5 Event Details Sun, Dec 5, 2021 Add to calendar Zoom More info: https://www.eventbrite.com/e/tysons-interfaith-presents-journey-from-afghanistan-tickets-211981681917 Our Oneness series continues 4:00 on Sunday, December 5, 2021 with a Zoom presentation by our guest speakers: Mary Akrami , Executive Director Afghan Women’s Skills Development Center Palwasha Hassan , Director Afghan Women’s Educational Center Naheed Sarabi , Former Deputy Minister of Finance for Policy United Nations Development Programme Afghanistan Learn about the experiences of our speakers who have made the journey to the United States Resister here to get a Zoom link emailed to you Interested Reply … [Read more...]

By Anna Coren , Jessie Yeung and Abdul Basir Bina, CNN Updated 2348 GMT (0748 HKT) November 1, 2021 (CNN) Parwana Malik, a 9-year-old girl with dark eyes and rosy cheeks, giggles with her friends as they play jump rope in a dusty clearing. But Parwana's laughter disappears as she returns home, a small hut with dirt walls, where she's reminded of her fate: she's being sold to a stranger as a child bride. The man who wants to buy Parwana says he's 55, but to her, he's "an old man" with white eyebrows and a thick white beard, she told CNN on October 22. She worries he will beat her and force her to work in his house. Parwana, 9, wearing pink, plays with friends in the displacement camp on the outskirts of Qala-e-Naw, in Afghanistan's Badghis province. Credit: CNN But her parents say they have no choice. For four years, her family have lived in an Afghan displacement camp in northwestern Badghis province, surviving on humanitarian aid and menial work … [Read more...]

PEMBERTON, N.J. (CBSNewYork) — We’re getting first look inside Liberty Village on Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst , where 11,000 Afghan refugees are currently housed awaiting resettlement as part of “Operation Allies Welcome.” CBS2’s Jessica Moore recently spoke with two refugees and has more what life is like as they assimilate into America. READ MORE : CBS2 Speaks With Lead Officer And Crew Of U.S. Air Force Mission That Helped 800 Afghan Refugees Escape Kabul There were smiling Afghan boys playing soccer in the yard between two barracks, each of which houses hundreds of guests. Officials say 40% of the refugees currently housed at the joint base are under 14 years old. Silen Hussainzada, a 25-year-old attorney, was the only member of her family to escape Afghanistan. “How different is life over here? Was it a shock at first?” Moore asked. “Yes, it was. There’s no boundaries, there’s no limits for your dreams. Everything can come true. Back in Afghanistan , … [Read more...]