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Herat

women and a baby

‘I am living through my worst nightmare’: Women aid workers in Afghanistan react to ban on employment

Afghanistan

Women who work for nongovernmental organizations in Afghanistan are in shock after the group announced a ban on female employees.

Shirin Jaafari reporting from Afghanistan

Behind the story: Shirin Jaafari’s reporting from Herat, Afghanistan, in the summer of 2021

Ismail Khan

Former warlord Ismail Khan led a militia against the Taliban. He spoke to The World days before Afghans lost the fight.

Afghanistan
Stranded people crossing the border between Pakistan Afghanistan, in Chaman, Pakistan, Aug. 13, 2021. Pakistan opened its Chaman border crossing for people who had been stranded in recent weeks. Juma Khan, the Pakistan border town's deputy commissioner, s

Taliban seize Herat and assault nearby dam that provides water and power to hundreds of thousands of Afghans

Several Taliban fighters are shown standing in a street or sitting on blanket-covered motorcycles.

The Taliban take 10th provincial capital in offensive

Top of The World
Several people are shown sitting and standing around the center, circular post in the open air city square.

Taliban take 10th Afghan provincial capital, squeezing Kabul

Conflict

The Taliban captured a strategic provincial capital near Kabul on Thursday, the 10th the insurgents have taken in a weeklong sweep across Afghanistan.

Thousands of families have been forced to leave their homes in Afghanistan over the past few months as fighting between the Taliban and Afghan security forces intensified.

Afghans in a city under siege by the Taliban: ‘The insecurity has upended our lives’

Global Politics

As the militant group tightened its grip on the area, many residents of the western city of Herat worry about what the future holds.

Afghans are hoping rap from the masses will turn out the youth vote

Arts, Culture & Media

When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.When Afghanistan holds elections on April 5, young voters could make all the difference. So this year, instead of an arts festival, the government created a music competition around the elections. The requirement? You had to write songs with lyrics about voting. And what came back was often rap.

Afghanistan's Highway 1 connect major cities like Kabul, Herat and Kandahar.

In Afghanistan, a 2-lane ‘highway’ tells the story of a troubled country

Development & Education

In Afghanistan, it is hard to paint a picture of what decades of war and unrest have done to the country. The BBC has chosen to try, by traveling Highway 1 – the two-lane road that, in better times, would connect two-thirds of all Afghans.

The World

Another step toward Afghan independence

Conflict & Justice

Afghanistan’s President Hamid Karzai has announced the seven areas of the country, about one-fifth of the Afghan population, which will soon pass from control by foreign troops into Afghan hands. The BBC’s Quentin Sommerville reports.