Afghan President Hamid Karzai will appoint a female provincial governor for the first time in Afghanistan’s history. Karzai will be choosing the governor of the central Bamiyan province from a short list of all-female candidates that includes the former Minister of Women’s Affairs, Habiba Sorabi, reports the Associated Press. Many see the appointment of a […]
Women’s Radio Station Relaunched in Afghanistan; Resources Needed
The Voice of Afghan Women, an Afghan radio station devoted to the interests of women, has been re-launched in Afghanistan. According to BBC News, the radio station first started in 2001 after the fall of the Taliban, but lost its funding and was taken off the air. The station’s director, Jamileh Mujahed, was the first […]
Afghanistan’s New Cabinet Includes Three Women
President Hamid Karzai recently announced twenty-seven ministers that will serve in his new Cabinet, including three women. The only female presidential candidate to run in Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban elections, Dr. Masooda Jalal, was named the Minister of Women’s Affairs. Jalal, a medical doctor, was also the only women to run for president of the Interim […]
Female Hostages Released In Afghanistan and Iraq
Three United Nations election workers, two women and a man, were freed unharmed this morning after being abducted from a United Nations vehicle last month in Afghanistan. Shqipe Hebibi from Kosova, Annetta Flanigan from Northern Ireland, and Angelito Nayan, a Filipino diplomat, were kidnapped on a busy street in Kabul by armed men on October […]
Three Election Workers Abducted in Afghanistan
Three election workers, believed to be two women and a man, were abducted from a United Nations vehicle today in Kabul. The attack has been claimed by a Taliban breakoff group called Jaish-e-Muslimeen (Army of Muslims), according to Reuters. The driver of the car, an Afghan man, was beaten and left behind at the scene, […]
Suicide Bomber Kills Afghan Girl and American Woman in Afghanistan
A suicide bomber killed an Afghan girl and an American woman and wounded five others in Kabul, Afghanistan yesterday. According to the Associated Press, the blast occurred in a busy shopping area popular with foreigners. The 23-year-old American woman who was killed, Jamie Michalsky, worked as a translator in Uzbekistan. She was in Afghanistan seeking […]
Women, Violence, and the Elections in Afghanistan
As he did in Thursday night’s debate, President Bush repeatedly refers to the number of people registering to vote in Afghanistan for the October 9 Afghan presidential election. Bush said, “Ten million citizens have registered to voteÉForty-one percent of those 10 million are women.” The Feminist Majority is closely following the election process and is […]
Representatives Question Security on Eve of Elections in Afghanistan
Members of the House International Relations Committee examined the deteriorating security situation in Afghanistan during a hearing on US security policy in Afghanistan last Thursday. According to Chairman Henry Hyde’s (R-IL) opening statement, “While this is a commendable achievement and an important milestone in Afghanistan’s political reconstruction effort, it will only be a marred snapshot […]
Candidates Begin Campaigning for Afghanistan’s Presidential Elections
Despite threats from the Taliban to disrupt the upcoming elections in Afghanistan, campaigns for the first post-Taliban elections began today. A Taliban spokesman, Abdul Hakimi, stated that Taliban fighters would target all presidential candidates, parliamentary candidates running in April’s parliamentary elections, and anyone who voted, reports Reuter’s. In addition, the Taliban has been making recent […]
Voter Registration in Afghanistan Flawed
While reports show that there are over 10 million people registered to vote in Afghanistan’s October presidential elections, it has become evident that the election registration process is Afghanistan is seriously flawed. According to BBC News, this number greatly exceeds the total estimated number of eligible voters for the whole country. United Nations officials originally […]
Taliban Commits Deadly Attacks in Afghanistan
The American Security Company, Dyncorps Inc., suffered a deadly attack in Kabul by a car bomb killing ten people, including three Americans. Just hours later, nine people, eight of them children, were killed by a bomb that exploded outside of their school in Southeastern Afghanistan. According to the Washington Post, the Taliban has claimed responsibility […]
Deployment of Extra Peacekeeping Troops to Afghanistan Still Unclear
Earlier this week, the French and German-led military unit, Eurocorps, took command of NATO peacekeeping forces (ISAF) in Kabul. The transition occurred two months before Afghanistan’s first post-Taliban elections are scheduled to take place. In June, NATO stated that it would increase the size of peacekeeping troops from 6,500 to 10,000 for the elections. It […]
Two Aid Workers Killed in Afghanistan
In another deadly attack against civilians, two Afghans working for a German aid agency were killed in southeastern Afghanistan. According to the Associated Press, a field officer and a driver working for the aid group Malester were killed in their car from gunshots. These murders were the latest in a string of deadly attacks on […]
Report: Afghanistan Could Implode With Terrible Consequences
A recent British Parliamentary Committee on Foreign Affairs report asserts that the improvement of security in Afghanistan is one of the highest priorities in the world. The report concludes that more resources for the current International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) are desperately needed. According to the report, “There is a real danger if these resources […]
At Least Two Killed at Polling Centers in Afghanistan, Aid Group Leaves
At least two people were killed, including a member of the Afghan election coordinating body, by an explosion at a polling center in Ghazni, Afghanistan. The United State’s military puts the number of Afghans killed at six, including two UN workers, while United Nations is reporting only two deaths. According to Reuters, Afghan authorities are […]
Bush Policies on Iraq and Afghanistan Fail Women
Several leading women’s groups released a scorecard grading the Bush Administration on its policies in Iraq and Afghanistan that affect women, including women’s political participation, health, and security. After announcing that President Bush received a “C” for rhetoric and an “F” for reality regarding women’s security in Afghanistan and Iraq, Eleanor Smeal, president of the […]
Two UN Elections Offices Attacked in Afghanistan
A United Nations Election Office located near Kabul, Afghanistan was attacked by rocket-propelled grenades early this morning. Another UN Election Office in Kandahar was attacked a few hours later, killing a policeman and injuring an election worker. According to Reuters, the UN Special Representative to Afghanistan, Jean Arnault, said, “We are facing attacks– direct attacks […]
Security Situation Continues to Worsen in Afghanistan
Four Afghan civilians, including two children, were killed by a roadside bomb aimed at the international peacekeeping force (ISAF) in Afghanistan this week. According to IRIN News, the security situation is not improving as Afghanistan moves closer to the elections that are scheduled to occur in September. According to the acting chief of public information […]
US Watchdog Urges Improvement of US Strategy in Afghanistan
The General Accounting Office (GAO) recently issued a report stating that while US humanitarian and short-term assistance benefited Afghanistan in fiscal years 2002 and 2003, longer-term reconstruction projects achieved limited results due to late funding and lack of a comprehensive reconstruction strategy. The report, entitled “Afghanistan Reconstruction: Deteriorating Security and Limited Resources Have Impeded Progress; […]
Chinese Workers Latest Fatalities in Taliban Crusade to Derail Elections in Afghanistan
Yesterday, gunmen killed an Afghan guard and 11 Chinese road workers as they slept in the Kunduz province in northern Afghanistan. The Associated Press reports that yesterday’s brutal attack was the deadliest on foreign civilians since the Taliban lost power. Four other Chinese workers who were injured in the attack are listed in stable condition. […]
