The Taliban has claimed responsibility for a suicide bomber who blew up a bus transporting police recruits in Afghanistan yesterday. The attack killed 35 people, the Los Angeles Times reports, making it the deadliest bombing since US-led forces overthrew the Taliban in December 2001. At least 35 other people were wounded in the attack. Since […]
US House Approves Afghanistan Aid Bill with Provisions for Afghan Women and Girls
The US House of Representatives voted 406 to 10 yesterday to pass an omnibus bill that will provide security and economic assistance to Afghanistan and will limit funds given to warlords in high-level offices. The bill includes the major provisions of the Afghan Women’s Empowerment Act, including the authorization for three years of $5 million […]
Ms. Hosts Successful Forum on Afghanistan
The state of Afghan women and girls and the need for better US policies in Afghanistan were the focus of a community forum hosted by Ms. magazine yesterday morning. Dr. Sima Samar, chair of the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission and the UN Special Envoy to Sudan, offered important insight into the reality of the […]
Afghanistan: Drought-Stricken Villagers Resort to Selling Child-Brides
A second drought in Afghanistan has affected over two-and-a-half million villagers, some of whom are selling their young daughters as brides in order to feed and clothe their families. An article in The Guardian earlier this month documented the recent surge of bride-selling in Afghanistan that has resulted from two disastrous droughts to hit Afghanistan […]
Afghanistan Launches Plan for Action Amid Violence
Afghan President Hamid Karzai on Sunday launched a three-year action plan to stabilize and bring justice to the country, which has been in conflict since 1979. The “Action Plan on Peace, Reconciliation and Justice in Afghanistan” outlines five major elements that are deemed necessary to bring justice to Afghanistan; according to IRIN Newswire, these five […]
Conference Seeks to End Self-Immolation in Afghanistan
A conference to find solutions to a growing problem of self-immolation in Afghanistan and other countries began on Tuesday in Kabul, Afghanistan. The conference, hosted by the German womens rights group Medica Mondiale, includes 400 delegates from nations such as Sri Lanka, Iran, Iraq, India, Uzbekistan, and Tajikistan. The delegates will hear recent research from […]
Tribal Elders Work to Reopen Schools in Southern Afghanistan
Over 20 schools have reopened in the southern Afghanistan province of Helmand after being demolished by the Taliban insurgency, IRIN, a UN newswire, reported last week. Helmand tribal elders worked with the Afghan government to open 14 mixed gender temporary schools and called upon the government and international organizations to help rebuild permanent structures and […]
Increase in Honor Killings in Afghanistan
There has been a significant increase in so-called honor killings of women in Afghanistan from last year, announced the Afghan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) on Friday. The AIHRC believes that the increase is due to discrimination against women, the lack of enforcement of laws protecting women, and a weak judiciary, according to IRIN News, […]
UN Study Declares Violence against Women a Widespread Problem in Afghanistan
A new report by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) is shedding light on the extent of violence against women in Afghanistan. Uncounted and Discounted is based on over 1,300 incidences of violence against Afghan women between January 2003 and June 2005. Among the main conclusions of the report are that women are […]
Taliban Kills Woman and Son in Afghanistan
A woman and her son were killed Monday in Dast Mastan, Afghanistan, by Taliban militants on accusations of spying for local troops and the local government. Both were shot dead and the bodies were hung in the town as a warning to other villagers who might sympathize with the NATO troops stationed in the province […]
‘Close to Anarchy’ in Afghanistan
NATO’s commander in Afghanistan recently described the situation in the country as “close to anarchy,” saying Afghan and coalition forces are “running out of time”. Lt. Gen. David Richards, who will lead NATO as it takes control of the US-led coalition in southern Afghanistan at the end of the month, spoke at a conference in […]
Female Legislator in Afghanistan Attacked by Colleagues
Malalai Joya was physically and verbally attacked by her colleagues in Afghanistan’s parliament yesterday after she said that some of her fellow lawmakers were warlords and shouldn’t be allowed to sit in parliament. “I said there are two kinds of mujahedeed in Afghanistan,” Joya told the Associated Press. “One kind fought for independence, which I […]
New Cabinet in Afghanistan Includes No Women
Afghan President Hamid Karzai’s new cabinet currently includes no women. President Karzai did not reappoint the three women who had previously served in his 25-member cabinet. The one woman he did choose to be minister of women’s affairs was rejected by the Afghan parliament. Moreover, Karzai did not appoint any women to the Supreme Court. […]
International Peacekeeping Troops to Increase in Afghanistan
For several years, feminists have urged that the number of international peacekeeping (ISAF) troops in Afghanistan be increased and that they be deployed throughout the nation. The US has now announced that in the summer of 2006 it will reduce its troop presence from 19,000 to 16,500 and transfer power in southern Afghanistan to ISAF, […]
Women’s Rights Editor Jailed in Afghanistan Faces Increasing Threats
Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the editor of an Afghan women’s rights magazine who was convicted of blasphemy and sentenced to two years in prison, is facing increasing calls for harsher punishments, including a recent fatwa demanding that Nasab repent or be executed. Nasab was arrested and jailed after publishing articles questioning harsh punishments doled out under […]
Women’s Rights Magazine Editor Arrested in Afghanistan
The editor of an Afghan women’s rights monthly magazine was arrested on Saturday in Kabul. Ali Mohaqiq Nasab, the male editor of Haqooq-i-zan, which means Women’s Rights, was accused of publishing articles that went against Islamic teachings. One of the articles that drew the ire of the conservative Supreme Court raised questions about execution and […]
Girls School Attacked in Afghanistan
An Afghan girls school was attacked yesterday in the Logar province, the most recent in a series of attacks on girls’ education in Afghanistan. Armed men tied up two school guards and set the Padkhwai Raghani School building and two tents on fire. Local men are being questioned, but authorities do not yet know who […]
Woman Aid Worker Released in Afghanistan
Clementina Cantoni, an Italian aid worker abducted May 16 while working for CARE International in Kabul, was released yesterday after being held hostage for 24 days. Cantoni had managed CARE’s “Humanitarian Assistance for Women” project since 2003. At a news conference following her release, Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali told reporters that the negotiations […]
Attacks on Aid Workers Continue in Afghanistan
Eleven Afghans connected to a USAID-funded project have been killed this week in two separate attacks as violence against humanitarian aid workers is escalating daily. Five Afghans working for the US company Chemonics International were killed Wednesday in Helmud Province, according to the Associated Press. Within just 24 hours, six more Afghans with connections to […]
Kofi Annan Calls For Sustained International Support for Afghanistan
United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan stressed the need for international assistance for Afghanistan to continue far beyond the parliamentary elections scheduled to take place this September. In a report presented to the United Nations Security Council yesterday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stated that “a number of post-conflict peace building tasks have yet to be […]
