There are tens of thousands of children who have never known the carefree days of childhood. Waheda, 8, works in a brick kiln. Her calloused, small hands shape the bricks under the noon-day sun. She says she is the only bread winner in her family. Child labour is rampant in Afghanistan. Biting poverty is the reason most families send children as young as Waheda out...
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Religious authorities and tribal leaders in Sayed Abad district, Maidan Wardak, have jointly decided to halve the amount families ask as dowry. The limit has been set at 300,000 Afs (4,370 USD). Violators will be punished, says engineer Ainudina in Sayed Abad. People have welcomed the decision. Earlier, tribal leaders who gathered in Ghazni to discuss the prohibitive financial cost of marriage, reduced the dowry...
Pistachio forests in Herat and Badghis are arming the government’s opponents including the Taleban. Security forces, spread thin on the ground, have not been able to hold on to the nearly 30,000 hectares of pistachio in Badghis and 13,000 hectares in Herat. ...
Peace talks between the government of national unity and Gulbuddin Hekmatyar’s Hezb e Islami have made good progress. Hekmatyar’s decision to drop a key precondition – the complete withdrawal of foreign troops – helped the two sides make rapid progress in negotiations that started in March. ...
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