Kabul, Mar 31 : Poppy farmers in Afghanistan are being compelled to give away their daughters to local drug traffickers after failing to clear their loans.

According to a report appearing in the Newsweek magazine, these farmers have been involved in this business for decades on the stony hillsides of eastern Afghanistan and in the dusty southern plains.

Khar, Mar 31 : The Taliban's Pakistan chapter - Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) - has said that they were ready to hold talks with the new government if the latter reverses the previous regime's pro-US policies.

It, however, said that jihad against America would continue in Afghanistan

At a rally attended by roughly 5000 people, the TTP leaders said that they welcomed new Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani's announcement that the government would negotiate with the Taliban.

Kabul, Mar. 14: Clerics in Afghanistan have reportedly expressed their anguish and raised objections to an Afghan woman making it to the final three in the country's version of Pop Idol.

Lima Sahar, who hails from the conservative Pashtun belt, will take on two male contestants tonight for a place in the final sing-off on Afghan Star, which has become one of the nation's most popular television shows.

Kabul, Mar 7: The Afghans are so engrossed with the ‘Dari’ versions of Ekta Kapoor’s never ending Hindi family dramas, that all activities come to a grinding halt at 8.30 p. m. in Afghanistan.

In Mazar-e-Sharif one day, thieves removed tyres of a Toyota Land Crusier parked outside a house and put a signboard saying "Thanks Tulsi".

Kyonki Saas Bhi Kabhi Bahu Thi is the most popular of all these Indian soap operas and Tulsi is regarded as the most popular bahu (daughter-in-law) in Afghanistan.

Kabul, Mar. 6: Afghanistan’s self appointed spiritual and cultural guardians feel threatened by the most popular soap operas, Dari dubbed versions of Ekta Kapoor’s never ending Hindi family dramas, being telecast on local Afghan channels.

The Islamic Council of Scholars, referred to as ‘Ulema’ sought a ban on these serials singling out scenes that depict romance and Hindu gods in the homes of soap opera characters as "spreading immorality and un-Islamic culture."

Kabul, Feb. 19 : At least one person was killed in a car bomb explosion in Kandahar on Tuesday.

Police said the blast, the third in the city in as many days, also injured three people.

In the last three days, 136 people have died in bomb blasts in the area.

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission has called for an end to attacks on civilians. (ANI)

Kabul, Feb 12: Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai on Tuesday said he is hopeful about Pakistani ambassador to Afghanistan Tariq Azeezuddin’s quick rescuea day after he was feared abducted in Afghanistan's tribal Khyber district.

“May God make it happen that our brother and neighbouring country, Pakistan, is able to rescue him from the abductors, the terrorists,” Karzai said.

“We hope he comes to Afghanistan safely, sound and healthy, to continue his work in Kabul. May he be safe and freed,” the Dawn further quoted Karzai, as saying.

Washington, Feb 5: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice is expected to meet Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Foreign Secretary David Miliband in London on Wednesday to discuss strengthening efforts to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan.

Rice is of the view that Afghanistan will come back to haunt the NATO countries if the world abandons its military support for the fragile Government in Kabul.

Kandhar, Jan 29: Calling on the religious leaders to condemn the kidnapping a US woman, hundreds of women on Tuesday protested against the abduction of the burqa-clad American aid worker and her driver from a residential area of southern Afghanistan.

At least 500 women were gathered in an auditorium in Kandhar for the demonstration that was organised by the city's women's association.

“We call on Kandhar religious council to condemn this act and encourage the public to help, call on the abductors to release her without any harm or conditions,” demonstrators said in a resolution passed during their meeting.

Kabul, Jan. 23: A court in Afghanistan's Balkh Province has sentenced a journalist to death for distributing "blasphemous" material.

Twenty-three-year-old Sayed Perwiz Kambakhsh, who was arrested in 2007 for downloading material from the internet relating to the role of women in Islamic societies, has confessed to the charge of blasphemy, and therefore, had to be punished.

The court said that it would not entertain any protests against the death sentence on Kambakhsh.

London, Jan. 18: With violence in Afghanistan on the rise, NATO is struggling to fill holes in its fighting force.

Given this scenario, the United States and Germany have announced that both would be sending additional troops to the war-ravaged landlocked country.

Washington has confirmed that it will be sending an additional 3,200 troops, while Germany will replace a departing Norwegian unit.

Some countries are calling it the Afghanistan "surge", but NATO commanders in Afghanistan have spent months begging for additional troops to augment the 41,700 alliance soldiers currently there.

New Delhi, Jan 10: The bodies of two Indian soldiers who were killed in a suicide bomb attack in Afghanistan were brought home on Wednesday evening.

The bodies were first taken to Iran and then brought to New Delhi in a special Indian Air Force aircraft.

The bodies of Desha Singh and Manoj Kumar are being taken to their native places for cremation today.

The bomber attacked a convoy carrying a group of Indian road engineers in a district of Nimroz Province last week.

Kabul, Jan. 9: A Taleban commander in Afghanistan's southern Helmand province has claimed that he paid 15,000 dollars to his captors to secure his freedom.

Mullah Sorkh Naqaibullah told the BBC that he paid the above amount to Afghan authorities to win his freedom.

Known as the "Red Mullah", Naqaibullah was picked up for attacking British troops in Helmand. (ANI)

London, Dec. 5 (ANI): A map reportedly prepared for U. N. staff posted in Kabul has revealed that nearly 50 percent of Afghanistan is off-limits because of the danger posed by a resurgent Taleban.

According to The Times, which has accessed the as yet unpublished map, most foreign and Afghan staff have been evacuated from southern Afghanistan and have abandoned development projects in rural areas, confining themselves to cities or to less risky areas in the north of the landlocked country.

The unpublished map, according to the paper, illustrates risk levels across the nation.

London, Nov.22: An international think tank has in a report claimed that a resurgent Taliban is in control of at least half of Afghanistan, and predicted that the landlocked country is in serious danger of falling into the group's hands again after six years.

According to the Telegraph, the 110-page report claims that the Taliban controlled 54 per cent of Afghanistan.

The Senlis Council has called for the NATO troops to be doubled to 80,000 front-line soldiers who should be allowed to pursue militants into Pakistan.

It calculated that NATO countries should contribute 2.3 soldiers per 500 million pounds of their GDP to provide 71,000 soldiers, with 9,000 additional troops coming from Muslim nations.

Kabul, Nov.7 : Afghan President Hamid Karzai has declared three days of mourning in honour of the 41 people killed in Tuesday evening’s suicide bomb attack in northern Baghlan Province.

Describing it as one of the worst attacks to have hit the country, Karzai said: "It is unfortunate that once again I comment about a miserable situation, and through you, the media, I want to express my condolences to the people of Afghanistan.”

"We are investigating this whole incident, unfortunate incident. We will take account of all the factors in it and then we will let you know. The team has already done forensic studies of the scene and another team will go to investigate fully," he told a news conference here.

Kabul, Oct 28 : Nearly 80 Taliban militants were killed when they tried to ambush a patrol of Afghan and international soldiers in the south Afghanistan, the US-led international coalition has said.

The coalition said that the troops were forced to call in air support when they were ambushed in the highly volatile province of Helmand.

"The combined patrol immediately returned fire, manoeuvred, and employed close air support, resulting in death of almost seven dozen Taliban militants," it said in a statement.

The attackers fled after the clash in the town of Musa Qala, said the statement, which made no reference to any coalition or civilian casualties.

Kabul, Oct 25 : Maulvi Wakil Ahmad Mutawakil, Foreign Minister in the Taliban regime, has said that there no such thing as a moderate Taliban, and favoured the presence of NATO and US forces in Afghanistan until the various Afghan factions were independently able to resolve their problems.

Concerning talks between "moderate" Taliban and some European countries, he said there was no such thing as a moderate Taliban.

Seen as a moderate Taliban himself, Mutawakil confessed that the Taliban regime had made several mistakes.

However, he said they would amend those in any future set up, and added that that Mullah Omar was still controlling the Taliban.

Kabul, Oct 2 : At least 11 people, including women and school children, have died in a suicide blast that took place near a bus carrying policemen in Kabul on Tuesday.

The incident happened in the morning when a suicide bomber detonated the bomb after his attempt to enter inside a police bus failed.

Civilians, including schoolchildren, who were present on the road, became victims of the blast.

Today's suicide attack follows Saturday's attack on a military vehicle that left 30 people dead. (With inputs from ANI)

Kabul, Sep 29 : At least 27 people were killed and several others were injured when a suicide bomber boarded a crowded army bus here and detonated a huge bomb, officials said.

A high-ranking Afghan army medical official said 27 bodies had been taken to two hospitals.

Witnesses said that the bus was destroyed by the blast and several dead bodies can be seen around the wreckage.

The bus was completely destroyed by the blast and shop windows were shattered all around.