Stories from South Asia
Afghan musician Shafiq Baksh closes his eyes in reverence as the call to prayer wafts from the loudspeaker of a nearby mosque, marking the end of the day-long Ramadan fast. “The azaan is a kind of music that brings us […]
Ezatullah Nizami Ahmadzai, a young Afghan policeman stationed at a small checkpoint on the outskirts of Kabul, was just sitting down with his compatriots, on Saturday, for iftar, the breaking of the fay-long fast that Muslims observe during Ramadan. Hardly […]
In a tea-drinking culture, coffee and cupcakes are signs of social change
As the sun set, we hurried through the streets of Dasht-e-Barchi on the western edge of Kabul. Our host, 40-year old Baqir Sangari, had called several times to check the instructions to his house in the largely Hazara Shiite community. […]
The grief of Talib Jan Mangal is insurmountable. His voice quivers with emotion as the 66-year-old Afghan fields calls from around the world. They are all asking after his 26-year-old daughter Mina, who shot dead in broad daylight in the […]
The sun was setting over the Afghan capital on the second day of Ramadan, the Muslim month of fasting, prayer and good deeds, but municipality cleaners Zabihullah and Fahim were still out on the streets of Kabul, hours after their […]
It’s hard to imagine a happier face. But it’s a bittersweet story. A joyful video of a 5-year-old Afghan boy, Sayeed Rehman, has gone viral. He had just been fitted with a new prosthetic leg, and he couldn’t stop dancing […]
Five-year-old Sayeed Rehman does not know what resilience means, a word used several times over the last few days to describe him. The young Afghan is just happy that he can dance again with his new prosthetic leg, one of […]
A car bomb and shooting attack targeting a US-funded NGO in central Kabul on Wednesday left at least five civilians dead, two dozen wounded and Afghan security forces responding to the assault with an hours-long clearance operation. Afghan security forces […]
In a historic first, Forbes magazine featured three young Afghan women social entrepreneurs in their much-talked about ‘30 Under 30’ list for Asia. A total of four Afghans made it to the prestigious list, including the three women — Tamana Asey, 26, […]