by Fatehul Mulk Ali Nasir   Prior to Aman-ul-Mulk’s ascension to the throne of Chitral in 1858 the fortunes of this deep valley set amongst the heights of the Hindu Kush were very different. Chitral has long had a tradition of kingship, and indeed the early signs of nationhood, since at least the days of the Chinese Book of Tang, …

The peace deal was signed after 18 months of talks in Doha Sorin Furcoi Al Jazeera] Peace deal signed in Qatari capital, Doha, will pave the way for the complete withdrawal of US forces from Afghanistan within 14 months   Doha, Qatar: The US and the Taliban have signed a landmark peace agreement after nearly 20 years of war that could …

High Asia Herald Report  Afghan President Ashraf Ghani banned the hunting of rare birds and animals two years ago, but hunting continues across the country and the hides of rare animals can be bought in markets in the capital, Kabul. Two years ago Afghan President Ashraf Ghani had banned the hunting of rare birds and animals, but hunting continues across …

Afghanistan’s Independent Human Rights Commission probing video of a woman being stoned to death Ghor province High Asia Herald Report   An independent rights watchdog in Afghanistan has initiated an investigation of video footage that shows a woman being stoned to death, says a report published by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty on its website. The two-minute clip shows a group of …

File photo of the confluence of Khurdopin and Yokshin Glacier and blockade of Verjherav glacio-fluvial stream. Credit: MIMCP HAH Report Assessing and monitoring hazards as well as surveying the damage and collecting data during emergencies in hard-to-reach mountain areas poses many difficulties. At higher altitudes, satellite data does not come in high enough resolution to create accurate hazard maps, and …

Mirzaie, founder of a Sama Dance group dances with her teammates in Kabul. Reuters Fahima Mirzaie hopes the Sufi dance called Sama will help students fight depression and find inner peace in Afghanistan.   https://ca.reuters.com/article/lifestyleMolt/idCAKBN1ZG01P   KABUL: Fahima Mirzaie set up a dance school for women in the Afghan capital last year, hoping to help her students fight depression and …

  https://rferl.org/a/afghanistan-homeless-family-cemetery/30381496.     An ethnic Turkmen family in northern Afghanistan was homeless and desperate — so they took shelter in a cemetery alongside other destitute people. But when locals learned about the family’s troubles from a report by RFE/RL’s Turkmen Service, they stepped forward to help.

Herald Report   The US invasion of Iraq was aimed at setting up permanent military bases there and to benefit energy corporations and weapons industry, comments Professor Noam Chomsky, an internationally acclaimed American linguist in a conversation with Hassan Mirza, published in The Express Tribune Blogs section. The conversation is based on correspondence between the two over a period of …

Dr Tetsu Nakamora was widely respected for his humanitarian work, who devoted his career to improving the lives of the poor Afghans

  A submachine gun that started a quest to know more about the Kirghiz exodus from the Pamirs   Raheel Siddiqui   When one is trotting on a horse at a high altitude through a mountain pass, accompanied by a friend who’s running low on sleep due to low oxygen, there is a slight hope that one won’t be bothered …

KRASLICE, (Czech Republic): In the winter of 1978-79, Afghanistan’s communist regime deployed a hit squad to find and kill Babrak Karmal, the high-profile ambassador to Czechoslovakia. Fearing for his life, Czechoslovak authorities secretly hid Karmal and his family in a remote hunting lodge in the dense forests straddling the border with East Germany. The family-of-six lived covertly for a year …

The reported shoot-out near the Uzbek and Afghan borders will concern Russia and China as well. The attack in Tajikistan could have broad implications for Central Asia DUSHANBE: A deadly attack on a Tajik border post reported early on Wednesday is disturbing for many reasons, including the fact Tajik officials are blaming the so-called Islamic State (IS) militant group for the …

by M. K. BHADRAKUMAR Compared to the events two decades ago when the Afghan Taliban appeared in the Amu Darya region in northern Afghanistan and Central Asian states and Russia went into feverish tantrums, there is an eerie calm palpable in the steppes today.  The contrast couldn’t be sharper. In 1997 when Taliban first appeared in Mazar-i-Sharif on the Amu …

by Frud Bezhan Seventeen men will contest Afghanistan’s presidential election in a race among old power brokers — ex-government officials, prominent technocrats, and a notorious former warlord. The twice-delayed September 28 election is slated to be only the second-ever democratic transition of power in the war-wracked country of 35 million people. The candidates include some controversial figures from the last …

Sayvaly Shafiev leads a group of about 200 fighters from Tajikistan, Uzbekistan, and other Central Asian countries in Afghanistan, says UN report Herald Report A little-known Tajik man has emerged as a unit leader of the Islamic State (IS) affiliate in Afghanistan as the extremist group tries to expand its footprint in the war-torn country, reports Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty …