The tragedy of maternal mortality: Every hour, a woman in Afghanistan loses her life during childbirth
It was midnight when another wave of pain struck. Begum, 35, thought it was finally time for her child to...
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Reports
The pain of farewelling year six teachers and classmates leads to a secret high school in heavy demand
The 25-year-old watched a group of girls graduating from grade six, sobbing that they could no longer continue. Under rules...
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Raids, beatings and extortion: Badakhshan brides whose weddings were ruined by armed Taliban groups enforcing music ban
A Taliban raid on her wedding day in northern Badakhshan province has left her devastated - and her brother in...
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Badakhshan women report feeling unsafe to walk outside over persistent abuse by Taliban officials for ‘improper hijab’
Salima, 24, suspected he was a member of the “morality police” – the term for enforcers of strict codes of...
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Video appears to show gang-rape of Afghan woman in a Taliban jail
Rukhshana Media and The Guardian has seen video evidence of a female Afghan human rights activist being gang-raped and tortured...
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Bamyan musician mourns the loss of song and the dambora after defying taboos to teach herself at a young age
Zeba* sat atop the Buddha cliffs in Bamyan province watching the sunset and people below passing by, recalling the days...
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Vignettes of Eid: A celebration overshadowed by sadness for those living in poverty
It’s the day before Eid. Two girls Shukria, 12, and Shegufa, 9, are standing in the full midday sun near...
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Bloodied and bruised by her husband’s beatings, Hasina fears she’ll be jailed or stoned to death if she goes to the Taliban for protection
Hasina was so brutally bashed by her husband that she had a miscarriage when she was six months pregnant. But...
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‘Nobody is coming to help us’: Afghan teenage girls on life without school
Just over three years ago, Asma’s* future contained many possibilities. Aged 15, she was at secondary school. After that lay...
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Kabul residents question whether the Taliban are serious about providing security as home invasions and robberies rise
Residents in west Kabul fear the Taliban are either unable or unwilling to provide security as the number of break-and-enters...
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