tagged w/ Kabul
-
Ever since Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan first dropped their skateboards on a Kabul sidewalk in early 2007, they’ve been swarmed with interest – from local kids, the press and, more recently, potential donors. But turning those good vibes into money – and establishing Skateistan as a valuable organization – has been a stickier proposition.By David LepeskaEver since Oliver Percovich and Sharna Nolan first dropped their skateboards on a... more
-
-
suba
-
added this
-
2 years ago
- |
-
KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban gathered residents of Kash Rud and then executed a man Abdul Aziz, and his lover who did not like the man to whom she was forced to be engaged.KABUL, Afghanistan — Taliban gathered residents of Kash Rud and then executed a... more
-
-
Suicide bombers and gunmen today attacked government buildings in the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing at least nine people in what appeared to be a coordinated attack.
Two Taliban bombers blew themselves up in the prisons department as a gun battle broke out near the presidential palace.
A policeman at the scene of the suicide bombings told Reuters a third attacker had escaped, while two other suicide bombers were shot dead, one outside the justice ministry and the other near the education ministry.Suicide bombers and gunmen today attacked government buildings in the Afghan capital,... more
-
-
Kepano
-
added this
-
3 years ago
- |
-
At least three people have been killed after a suicide car bomb exploded near the German Embassy in Kabul. 23 others were injured. The Taliban have claimed responsibility, saying they were targetting two German Embassy vehicles.At least three people have been killed after a suicide car bomb exploded near the... more
-
-
An Afghan teen learns to play golf to help his family survive and dreams of a matchup with the world’s best.An Afghan teen learns to play golf to help his family survive and dreams of a matchup... more
-
-
A suicide bomber on a bicycle killed two and injured three in Kabul near the German embassy.A suicide bomber on a bicycle killed two and injured three in Kabul near the German... more
-
-
Banafsha is an eleven-year-old girl living in Afghanistan. She may be young, but she if the primary provider for her family. Everyday Banafsha begs for bread so she, her sister, her baby brothers and her mom can eat. Her father is a drug addict. Her younger sisters also beg. She treks to the more affluent parts of Kabul, hoping the wealthier will be able to give. But there is danger everywhere: "A few days ago, some girls were kidnapped around here, and many people have gone missing. The girls' mother still comes around here looking for them, but they still haven't been found," Banafsha says. She prays everyday that her father will be able to work so she can go to school.
On her way to beg, Banafsha visits a centre run by an Afghan NGO called Aschiana. Inside, Banafsha gets to be a normal child for three hours: there are play areas and instruments. Funding is tight, and many of the centres will be forced to close.Banafsha is an eleven-year-old girl living in Afghanistan. She may be young, but she... more
-
-
Women's Rights In Afghanistan: in the face of Politics, Progress, and Western Presence Pt 5/6
http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/262203
Homemakers Magazine editor in chief Kathy Ullyott speaks with reporter Stephen Dohnberg about the struggle of women and what she witnessed during her visit to Kabul, Afghanistan The conversation reveals what a complex situation the Western presence in Afghanistan is by any measure.
Invited by C.A.R.E. Canada, in May Kathy Ullyott, made her way to the city of Kabul for a week-long look at the work and commitment of an NGO such as C.A.R.E., who have been an early presence since 1996, assisting widows with food aid. Even an issue of basic aid is fraught with concerns that span the range of issues from western presence to cultural mores. Although we initially planned to discuss the ascent of women’s rights in Afghanistan, the intersection of so many other disparate concerns clearly illustrates that no single issue will resolve itself independent of others.Women's Rights In Afghanistan: in the face of Politics, Progress, and Western... more
-
-
KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban, notorious for summary public executions, urged the United Nations on Thursday to press the Afghan government to stop executing prisoners on death row, citing concern about fair trials.
Afghanistan resumed executions this week after a break of more than a year, with three Taliban sentenced for deadly attacks among nine people put to death in the past few days.
Those executions followed a public outcry over rising crime.
About 120 other people have been sentenced to death and their fate rests with President Hamid Karzai, who has to approve any execution order.
The United Nations and European Union have called on Karzai to halt the executions, citing concern about the standards of judicial fairness.
The United Nations says Afghanistan's law enforcement and judicial systems fall far short of internationally accepted standards.
The Taliban leadership council said it too was worried about fair trials.
"We strongly request the U.N., the EU, the Red Cross and human rights groups to earnestly prevent this barbaric act," the Taliban said in a statement on their website, accusing Karzai's government of corruption.KABUL (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban, notorious for summary public executions,... more
-
-
Reports coming out of Afghanistan claim a Western aid worker has been abducted by unidentified gunmen in a street in the Afghan capital, as well as shooting dead a local who tried to help rescue him.
Interior ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashari told AFP that the aid worker was walking in a suburb of Kabul when he was snatched by three armed men.
"A man ... who tried to help and stop the abductors was shot and killed as he tried to scuffle with the abductors," he said.Reports coming out of Afghanistan claim a Western aid worker has been abducted by... more
-
-
A young Afghan kite fighting champion living in an encircled city pledges to keep flying kites despite threats of a Taliban takeover.A young Afghan kite fighting champion living in an encircled city pledges to keep... more
-
-
At least 24 security workers at a construction site in Afghanistan's Ghazni province have been killed in suspected US air raids.
The deputy governor of the province southwest of the capital Kabul called Sunday's incident a "brutal attack".
A provincial government source told the Reuters news agency that US-led forces had called in an air raid after fighters attacked several posts operated by the security company that guards the road construction project.
The US military said it called in the aerial bombardment after its forces came under fire, but cannot at this time confirm the identity of the victims.
The latest air raids come just days after the Afghan government said an attack by US-led forces killed nine Afghan soldiers in the southeastern province of Khost.
Hundreds of civilians have been killed in operations by Nato and US-led international forces this year, according to Afghan officials and aid groups.
At least 24 security workers at a construction site in Afghanistan's Ghazni... more
-
-
Until about three years ago Kabul was an exotic and exciting posting for an ambitious young aid worker or a diplomat; if you were sensible it was safe enough to meet Afghans, go to parties and restaurants, and shop in the bazaars.
Today, after the Taliban resurgence and the growth of banditry, it is starting to look as dangerous as Baghdad at its worst.
Any foreigner arriving for the first time will be given hair-raising warnings about the risks of kidnapping, armed robbery and terrorist attack. Many have armed bodyguards assigned at all times and new businesses specialize in selling technical gadgets that can track an individual's every move by GPS in case of abduction. Where there's risk, there's profit.
Aid workers who could wander the city's bazaars at will in 2005 are now banned from leaving their hotels, which look like fortresses with razor wire and Kalashnikov-toting guards at the entrances.
The threat is real and, many think, worsening: six international aid workers have been killed so far this year in Afghanistan, and two Britons have died in the capital in the last week alone.
The Taliban is not the only danger – although they carry out the worst attacks, like the deadly suicide bombing of the showpiece Serena Hotel last January.
Like elsewhere in Afghanistan, Kabul is lawless. Admittedly there have never been so many police on the streets, and helicopters circling the skies above. New blast barriers and machine-gun posts seem to sprout almost weekly.
But as faith in the government has waned, crime has grown. Men who 10 years ago were ragged bandits preying off penniless refugees are now armed robbers who kidnap wealthy Afghan businessmen. They go for Westerners too if they think they can get away with it.
Just how dangerous the city has become is a matter for debate. Most of its foreign residents would agree that it is not as bad as Baghdad was when kidnapping was at its height and most fervently hope that Kabul is unlikely to ever get so bad.
But living behind walls and watching endless DVDs while worrying about kidnapping is not much fun. Organizations like the UN now have serious recruitment problems.
After the fatal shooting last week of Gayle Williams, the Christian aid worker who was shot dead by Taliban gunmen in the street, even a walk in the autumn sunshine can seem dangerous.
The Afghanistan NGO Security Office advises on safety for aid workers, and director Nic Lee does not think the Taliban are generally targeting foreigners in the capital but advises expatriates to exercise extreme caution.
"There's been a lot of panicky talk about aid workers getting ready to flee the country but nobody I know sees it like that.
"But there have been some high-profile attacks and that has brought it home just how dangerous Kabul has always been. What worries us is that there is a continual escalation in threat levels across the country."Until about three years ago Kabul was an exotic and exciting posting for an ambitious... more
-
-
An Afghan guard with the shipping firm shot the Briton and the South African before taking his own life, authorities say.
Reporting from Kabul, Afghanistan -- Security for Westerners in Afghanistan took a sharp turn for the worse Saturday when an Afghan security guard working for the international shipping firm DHL shot dead the company's top two executives in the country before killing himself, authorities said.
The early-morning attack, which killed a Briton and a South African in a prosperous district of the capital, was as symbolic as it was bloody. It targeted a major multinational corporation at a time when Afghanistan is hungry for foreign investment. And it took place in the heart of the city even as Western military officials are trying to calm fears that Islamic militants are tightening a noose around the capital.
An Afghan guard with the shipping firm shot the Briton and the South African before... more
-
-
Unknown gunmen have killed three people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, including two foreigners, police said.
The attack took place in front of the offices of the courier company DHL in the Sher Pur area of the city, where many foreigners live.
One of the foreigners was British. The second is believed to be South African, but this has not been confirmed.
It comes days after an aid worker with dual South African and British nationality was shot dead in Kabul.
Taliban militants reportedly said they had killed Gayle Williams, 34, because she was working for a Christian group.
In the wake of Saturday's incident, there was confusion about the nationalities of the dead foreigners.
Early reports suggested they had been Germans.
Police covered the silver, four-wheel-drive vehicle with plastic sheeting. There was blood on the ground and the windscreen.
The BBC's Martin Patience, in Kabul, says that until recently the centre of the capital has been regarded as relatively safe.
But the latest attacks will raise serious safety concerns, especially among foreigners, our correspondent adds.
There has been an upsurge in fighting between Taliban rebels and Afghan and international forces in many parts of the country over the past year.
In August three foreign women were shot dead south of Kabul. Unknown gunmen have killed three people in the Afghan capital, Kabul, including two... more
-
-
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence Tuesday for a journalism student accused of blasphemy for asking questions in class about women's rights under Islam. But the judges still sentenced him to 20 years in prison.
The case against 24-year-old Parwez Kambakhsh, whose brother has angered Afghan warlords with his own writings, has come to symbolize Afghanistan's slide toward an ultraconservative view on religious and individual freedoms.
"I don't accept the court's decision," Kambakhsh told The Associated Press as he was leaving the courtroom. "It is an unfair decision."
...
Besides the accusation that Kambakhsh disrupted class with his questions, prosecutors also said he illegally distributed an article he printed off the Internet that asks why Islam does not modernize to give women equal rights. He also allegedly wrote his own comments on the paper.
KABUL, Afghanistan – An Afghan appeals court overturned a death sentence Tuesday... more
-
-
Taliban militants shot dead a British woman in Kabul yesterday, claiming that she had been spreading Christianity.
Gayle Williams, 34, a worker for the Christian charity Serve Afghanistan, was shot by two men on a motorbike as she walked to work in the west of the city. She was found lying dead on the footpath by one of her colleagues.
“Our people carried out this attack in District 3 of Kabul this morning,” Zabiullah Mujahed, the Taliban spokesman, told The Times. “The reason that we killed her was because she was spreading Christianity.”
A witness said that seven shots were fired. The Afghan Interior Ministry said: “Two armed men sitting on a motorbike shot her dead. Some bullets hit her body and some hit her leg and when police got there she was dead.”
Ms Williams, from London, had recently been pulled out from the charity’s office in Kandahar, in the south, because of security fears for foreign aid workers there. She is the first Western aid worker to be killed by the Taleban in Kabul.
Mike Lyth, the chairman of Serve Afghanistan, dismissed the Taleban’s claims that Ms Williams had been targeted for religious revenge, and said that the charity did not preach Christianity.
“Purely from my point of view, this is a case of the Taleban picking up on something,” he said. “They know we are a Christian agency. We definitely have a policy of no proselytisation . . . She was only doing missionary work if that means living a Christian life and helping disabled people.Taliban militants shot dead a British woman in Kabul yesterday, claiming that she had... more
-
-
With over 1500 deaths, 2008 is the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the fall of the Taliban. In the middle of this chaos, a young American named Erica Gaston is working to bring recognition to the “collateral damage” of our War on Terror. Meeting with displaced families in a refugee camp in Western Kabul, she learns about an airstrike that killed 15 villagers, an attack where no one ever bothered — at the very least — to apologize.With over 1500 deaths, 2008 is the deadliest year for Afghan civilians since the fall... more
-
