Afghanistan has climbed up a notch in UNESCO rankings on the state of media freedom. From years of being in the black and red zones, it has been put in the blue zone for the first time. But journalism continues to be a risky profession in a country ravaged by war for decades, UNESCO admits. The National Journalist Union of Afghanistan believes the upgrade in...
More women need to be hired in the government. The head of Administrative Reform and Civil Services Commission in west zone says 128 women were recruited in government offices since the start of the year. The head Abdul Salam Salam says no woman was recruited in districts where security is an issue. The largest number of jobs were in Herat. While 80 women were recruited...
A Killid investigation shines the spotlight on the supply of substandard food ingredients by contractors to hostels in Kabul University and Kabul Polytechnic University. University authorities say the matter has been frequently raised with the Ministry of Higher Studies that awards the contracts but no action has followed. But the latter accuse the former of “compromising” with the contractors – the official reason for...
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and his Uzbek counterpart, Shaat Mirziyoyev, signed a bilateral cooperation agreement in Tashkent, the capital of Uzbekistan, yesterday. Afghan and Uzbekistan officials also signed more than 20 agreements which include economic, transit, security, electricity, agriculture, health and higher education cooperation between the two countries. The Afghan National Security Adviser and his counterpart also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on maintaining the...
Afghanistan national cricket team handed a 138-run defeat to Ireland in the first of their three one-day matches in Sharjah yesterday. Ireland won the toss and opted to field in the 50-over game at the Sharjah Cricket Ground. Before a 125 runs partnership between Jamal and Rahmat Shah, Afghanistan were at 22-2. Lower order contributions from Rashid Khan (48) and Shafiqllah Shafique (36) gave the Afghans...
At least 24 Taliban insurgents were killed in joint airstrikes conducted by Afghan and foreign forces in Helmand province. A press release from Maiwand 215 corps stated that the strikes were conducted in Nad Ali, Greshk, and Sangen districts over the past 24 hours. The statement added that among those killed were four prominent Taliban commanders. The statement further stated that lots of ammunition of Taliban...
Schoolchildren face sexual harassment in schools in Herat and Ghor but the problem has never been taken seriously in the western zone, says the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC). Students as young as 10 have complained to the commission. There were five cases in Herat alone last year, says Maleka Rasouli, deputy in AIHRC’s child rights section. From Ghor, 20 cases were reported...
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National Directorate of Security (NDS) said a senior member of al-Qaeda, Omar Khetab, and 80 other fighters of the militant group were killed in joint operations carried out by Afghan and the Resolute Support forces in Ghazni, Paktia and Zabul provinces. A press release from NDS stated that Khetab was the second senior leader of al-Qaeda after Asim Omar, the leader of the group...
Head of criminal investigation department of Bamyan police reported that two security officials were arrested on charges of raping a 20-year-old girl in the province. Jalil Wasiq, head of criminal investigation department of Bamyan police, told Killid that Ali Najafi, deputy security head of Bamyan police, and Bahman, a representative of National Directorate of Security (NDS) in Afghan National Army (ANA) coordination centre in...