12 Jan 2010 | no comments » war, women
Mursal is a 26 years old Afghan widow. She has an 8 years old son. She lost her husband, her son and a nephew in US air strike after September 11. They were living nearby a Taliban military base in northern Kabul when the US bombed Taliban base, the bomb missed its target and hit their houses. Now, she is returned back to her father’s house but his older brother is also a victim of war who lost one of his legs. Afghan Widows struggle to survive because of limited options for women to earn an income. Options outside the home are limited where the Taliban holds sway in Afghanistan.
05 Jan 2010 | no comments » people
Zebulon Simentov is a 50-year-old is believed to have become the last Jew in Afghanistan after the death of the caretaker of the only functioning synagogue in Kabul. It has emerged that the caretaker, Ishaq Levin, another Jew, aged about 80, died of natural causes. According to media around 5,000 Afghan Jews left the country after the creation of Israel in 1948, with others leaving after the 1979 Soviet invasion. Early biblical commentators regarded Khorasan as a location of the Ten Lost Tribes. Today, several Afghan tribes including the Durrani, Yussafzai, Afridi and Pashtun believe they are decedents of King Saul. They call themselves Bani-Israel, similar to the Hebrew, B’nai Israel, meaning the children of Israel. Even some Muslim scholars and writers accept this. In 2001, the Taliban stole all the synagogue’s supplies and the two Jews had to close their synagogue and leave the country. Worldwide Jewish organizations say that Jews have been in Afghanistan since the eighth century, mostly in Kabul and Herat. But in recent times many have emigrated to Central Asia and India.
04 Jan 2010 | no comments » people
Kabul City’s narrow streets that were built up more than three decades ago have fallen victim to the enormous traffic. With no traffics lights or signs, accidents and traffic jams constantly plague the population. After the expulsion of Taliban, thousands of people have bought cars with their new-found wealth, leading to hours-long traffic snarls on streets previously plied mainly by donkey, horse carts and bicycles.
29 Dec 2009 | no comments » Drug
A young man who was repatriated from Turkey while he was intend to cross the border to reach Europe. After spending several months in prison in Turkey he repatriated to Iran border and Iranian police border caught him and put him jail. After 6 months he repatriated to Afghanistan. He became addicted in Iran and now he is in Russian Cultural Palace among hundreds of other addicts who wriggling with their wounded bodies in the darkness of corridors. These addicts who are staying inside the Russian Cultural Palace told that they became addict in Iran. According to the U.N., there are a million Afghan drug addicts. But the actual number is at least double that with, women and children make up a quarter of those addicts. Afghanistan, the world’s largest producer of opium, is drowning in a troubling sea of its own making. While the country’s narco-traffickers ship vast quantities of the drug to Europe and the United States, enough of it stays behind to offer a cheap and easy temptation to the people at home. At left, addicts inside the old Soviet Cultural Center. Addiction in Afghanistan has risen along with the country’s opium production, which is now cranking at something close to fever pitch. With much of its society and many of its institutions ruined by 30 years of fighting, Afghanistan produces more than 90 percent of the world’s opium. Profits from the drug sales feed the Taliban insurgency.
07 Jul 2009 | no comments » Children
He is one of brave Afghan child breadwinners, he is selling cigarates to support his family. When i asked him if he is going to school, he shaked his head in disagreement.
More than 12 million of the Afghanistan’s population consists of children of whom 50% have no access to these services.
More than six million children in the country face problems such as smuggling, abduction, performing tough jobs and get no education.
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