Afghanistan: Radical Islamist groups recruit at universities

The Taliban continues to launch deadly attacks, most recently on Wednesday in the capital Kabul where at least 15 people were killed in a suicide attack.(Photo: Getty Images)
While the Afghan government is engaged in peace talks with the hard-line Taliban movement, radical Islamist groups are spreading their ideology at universities. Basira Akhtar, a 22-year-old student, was beaten up twice earlier this year, at her university in the capital Kabul, when her headscarf slipped from her head. In . . . Read More

EU ‘wilfully blind’ to risks of deporting Christian converts back to Afghanistan

EU ‘wilfully blind’ to risks of deporting Christian converts back to Afghanistan
European countries and the EU are “wilfully blind” to the risks facing Afghans who fail in their asylum claims and are sent home, according to a new report by Amnesty International. “All returnees face a real risk of serious human rights violations,” says Amnesty, but some, such as religious minorities . . . Read More

Death sentence for killers of Afghan woman

Four Afghan men have been sentenced to death for the mob killing of a woman falsely accused of burning a copy of the Qu’ran. The 28-year-old woman, called Farkhunda, got into an argument with a man selling amulets outside Kabul’s Shah-Du-Shamshaira shrine when the accusation was made. The amulet seller . . . Read More

Two Finnish Christian aid workers killed in Afghanistan

Two Finnish Christian aid workers killed in Afghanistan
Two Finnish women working for a Christian aid charity have been killed by gunmen in Herat, Afghanistan; both had worked in Afghanistan for 16 years, having arrived there together in March 1997. Two men, travelling by motorcycle, shot two women, who worked for the International Assistance Mission, IAM – while . . . Read More