The EU hosts the Taliban while refugees promised protection are left behind
Munira, a 26-year-old transgender woman, has been living in a Pakistani shelter for LGBTQ+ people since 2023. She says that Germany rejected her asylum case without giving a credible reason in January 2025. “When I…
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There’s a War on Women in Afghanistan.
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Reports
What happened in Herat?
Ahmad could not sleep. His 18-year-old sister Somaya had been dragged into a Taliban morality police vehicle and taken to Herat prison. When she came home the morning after her…
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Afghan women: The largest imprisoned population in the world
This year marks the fourth International Women’s Day in which the Taliban have imprisoned Afghan women and girls inside their…
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Ahmad Zahir and the Afghanistan that might have been
One of my great fortunes was being introduced early with the music of Afghanistan in the 1960s and 1970s. That encounter made me believe that progress and transformation were possible…
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Interviews
Interview with Hajar Hussaini, Whiting Award Winner of 2026
Hajar Hussaini is an Afghan poet and translator based in the United States. In 2004, she was 13 when she returned to Kabul with her family from Iran. She lived…
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Narrative
‘We have been buried alive:’ Herat woman describes Taliban’s hijab crackdown
It was around 2 p.m. on Friday when I learned about the Taliban’s notice making their hijab rules mandatory and warning of the arrest of women who don’t dress accordingly.…
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Arts & Culture
A life as wide as the courtyard: A review of ‘Let Me Write to You’
The story Let Me Write to You by Nahid Mehregan takes place in the city of Herat during the first Taliban rule. The novel narrates the lives of several women…
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