In Afghanistan, Dozens of schoolgirls and teachers have been sickened by poison gas in Afghanistan, medical and government officials said: female educational facilities, students and teachers have come under vicious attack as the insurgency has strengthened and spread from Taliban strongholds in the southern provinces of Kandahar and Helmand.
Aisha, a shy 18-year-old Afghan woman who was sentenced by a Taliban commander to have her nose and ears cut off for fleeing her abusive in-laws is on this week’s cover of Time magazine.
via:[http://www.time.com/time/world/article/0,8599,2007269,00.html]
Investigators are examining allegations that Afghan security firms have been extorting as much as $4 million a week from contractors paid with US funds and then funneling the spoils to warlords and the Taliban: if the allegations are true, the US would be unintentionally financing the enemy and undermining international efforts to stabilize the country.
The Afghan government has suspended two Christian aid groups after a TV show reported they were proselytising, which is illegal in the devoutly Islamic country: Qazi Nazir Ahmad, a lawmaker from the western province of Herat in Afghanistan, has said killing a converted Muslim was “not a crime”.
via:[http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5iKXZIK03CcdhdnVdqnOQWns9UfkA]
In the Time 100, Ayaan Hirsi Ali profiles Malalai Joya, who in spite of numerous obstacles was able to obtain a position in Afghanistan’s parliament.
via:[http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/article/0,28804,1984685_1984949_1985238,00.html]
Four people found dead in a southeastern Afghan compound appear to be victims of an honor killing, a senior U.S. military official said on Friday: NATO’s International Security Assistance Force said the bodies of two men and two women were found, with the women bound and gagged, and the U.S. official said the people were shot “execution-style.”
via:[http://edition.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/asiapcf/02/12/afghanistan.bodies/]
Many girls in Afghanistan engage in acts of self-immolation to escape forced marriages.
via:[http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2112069.aspx]
Many girls in Afghanistan think self-immolation is the best solution for family problems: in the first seven months of this year, medical staff at the Herat’s burns unit–the only one of its kind in the entire country–said they have seen 51 cases of female self-immolation, of whom only 13 have survived.
via:[http://worldblog.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2009/10/29/2112069.aspx]
People came from all over Afghanistan to compete in Kabul’s competition show Afghan Star: there’s the wonderful sight of women at the final show, sitting in the audience with huge smiles on their faces and lovely, uncovered hair down to their shoulders.
Far from the violence and unrest that have marred the capital of disputed Kashmir, a group of young women swap their burqas for smart suits and stilettos and dream of a career in the skies.
via:[http://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idUSTRE5671BK20090708]
