Afghanistan

World News

On The Pakistani Taliban: 'You Can't Do Politics ... Killing Children'

1:01pm December 21, 2014

Peshawar, Pakistan, has long been a breeding ground for the Taliban. NPR's Rachel Martin talks to Pakistan expert Michael Semple in the wake of the school massacre that left more than 140 dead.

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The entrance to Camp 5 and Camp 6 at the U.S. military's Guantanamo Bay detention center at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base, Cuba, in a photograph taken earlier this year.

4 Gitmo Prisoners Released For Return To Afghanistan

2:02pm December 20, 2014

by Scott Neuman

The inmates were sent home on a request from the new Afghan president, Ashraf Ghani. It is the latest in a series of moves to draw down the prison population by sending prisoners abroad.

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Fight Against Corruption In Afghanistan Press On

12:31pm December 18, 2014

Renee Montagne talks to John Sopko, special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction. He recently released a report highlighting significant waste, fraud and abuse in the U.S. funded program.

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Afghan laborers work on a road project in Kabul. The city has undertaken a huge project to fix its roads and sewers.

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Kabul Postcard: A Neighborhood In Transition

5:11pm December 13, 2014

by Sean Carberry

As NPR Kabul correspondent Sean Carberry wraps up his assignment, he assesses the change in his neighborhood, which has gone from dirt streets to upscale shopping centers.

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Afghan security personnel inspect a damaged bus at the site of a suicide attack in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Saturday. There was no immediate report of casualties, but the attack was one of several in the last 24 hours that have been blamed on the Taliban.

2 U.S. Soldiers Among More Than A Dozen Killed In Afghan Attacks

1:12pm December 13, 2014

by Scott Neuman

An Afghan Supreme Court official and 12 mine clearers were also among those killed in several attacks since late Friday.

U.S. Says It Has Closed Its Final Detention Center In Afghanistan

11:05am December 11, 2014

by Eyder Peralta

The U.S. said it closed its facility at Bagram, ending a controversial chapter in American history. The U.S. said it no longer holds any prisoners in Afghanistan.

At about $15 a gram, saffron is the world's most expensive spice. Rumi Spice has a unique model of employing Afghan farmers who are growing it that aims to double or even triple their annual income.

How Afghanistan Vets Are Trying To Cultivate Peace Through Saffron

11:01am December 11, 2014

by James Clark

Afghanistan has an ideal climate for growing saffron, the most expensive spice in the world. But little is exported. Rumi Spice is working with small farmers there to build the U.S. market for it.

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Reporter In Kabul Wins Award For Courage In Journalism

1:35pm December 09, 2014

Rolling Stone's Matthieu Aikins reported on this year's opium harvest — the biggest in Afghanistan's history. He also talks about traveling with a rescue crew in Syria and a Shia militia in Iraq.

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Schools for Conflict or for Peace in Afghanistan

Q&A: J Is For Jihad

8:21am December 09, 2014

by Anya Kamenetz

A new book argues that education aid, when done badly, can bring the opposite of peace.

Cooperative captives conduct afternoon prayers inside a communal cellblock at Camp 6 last month at the U.S. Navy base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Six long-time detainees of the prison have been transferred to Uruguay.

6 Gitmo Detainees Transferred To Uruguay, U.S. Says

2:19pm December 07, 2014

by Scott Neuman

Four Syrians, one Tunisian and one Palestinian were released to the South American country early today as part of a deal to reduce the inmate population at the controversial prison.