Afghanistan
The Ghost Mastermind
The arrest of a supposed “mastermind” behind the Kabul airport bombing has reduced the deadliest attack of the War in Afghanistan to a diplomatic prop. While the Taliban claim to fight the Islamic State group, and U.S. leaders tout symbolic victories, ordinary Afghans sift the rubble of shifting narratives.
Saving Sounds
In a world where memories can fade and history is often erased by the forces that seek to control it, Afghan-American collector Omid J. reminds us that preserving stories — whether through songs, films or simple moments captured on a cassette — can be an act of resistance.
The Little-Known Story of Afghanistan’s Last Jew
Despite her frailty, 83-year-old Tova Moradi was a prized target because she was Jewish and had misled the Taliban during its previous rule in the 1990s by sheltering a rabbi in her house. She needed to escape, and Israelis were helping her flee.
An Afghan Photographer’s Portrait of Her Mother
When Laila Hazara left Afghanistan after the Taliban came to power in 2021, she had just contracted COVID-19 and had to fly without the oxygen tank she needed. Her daughter documents the life she left behind, and the one she has made with her family in Virginia.
An Afghan Synagogue Thrives in Queens
Others from the small community gathered around me, each with a story to relate about the life they left behind in Afghanistan, and their fond recollections despite the challenges they faced as members of a religious minority. Indeed, the agony of leaving their home and all that they had grown to love seemed fresh in their mind. Many of them, even those in their late 70s and early 80s, told me that the synagogue provided them with the solace and sense of belonging that they left behind in Afghanistan.
The Secret Musicians of Afghanistan
Despite the Taliban's ban on music, Afghans are learning to sing and play instruments in secret sessions.
In Afghanistan’s Ever-Shifting Politics, an Opposition Comeback Cannot Be Ruled Out
Afghanistan, despite becoming more urban and educated, with a growing middle class and many of the trappings of a modern state, remains an important yet inherently unstable geostrategic chessboard, where Afghan leaders and their international backers play their bloody games at the expense of unfortunate Afghans.