LAHORE, Pakistan (Reuters) – A gold bullet on top of Islamic stenciling, open sores and festering wounds, life-size sculptures of silenced men whose faces are obscured.

Pakistan’s sectarian crisis has grown so acute that it is creeping into the country’s contemporary art scene, spurring young artists to question the causes and assumptions behind the violent Sunni-Shi’ite divide.

KABUL, March 5 (Reuters) – An Afghan court gave jail terms
on Tuesday to 20 of 22 men accused of involvement in a
multi-million dollar bank fraud in a trial seen as a test of
Afghanistan’s commitment to fighting corruption.

The collapse of Kabulbank in 2010 triggered a financial
crisis, civil disorder and a run on deposits, worrying foreign
donors and embarrassing the U.S. and Afghan governments, which
had touted its credentials as a modern lender integral to
developing a tiny economy crippled by war and mismanagement.

KABUL (Reuters) – NATO expects a decision by the middle of this year on the size of a training force to be kept in Afghanistan once most foreign troops leave in 2014, alliance Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen said on Monday.

The Pentagon has said a NATO-led training force of between 8,000 and 12,000 was under consideration.

KABUL (Reuters) – Advancing women’s rights in Afghanistan is key to preventing the Taliban from reimposing a radical form of Islam once most foreign troops leave by the end of 2014, the commander of U.S. and NATO forces said on Saturday.

Afghan women have won back basic rights in education, voting and employment since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, but fears are growing such gains could be traded away as Western forces prepare to leave and the Afghan government seeks peace talks with the group.

KABUL (Reuters) – Shortly after Friba joined the Afghan National Police, she gave herself the nickname “dragon” and vowed to bring law and order to her tormented homeland.

Five years later, she is tired of rebuffing the sexual advances of male colleagues, worries the budget for the female force will shrink and fears the government will abandon them.

KABUL, Dec 19 (Reuters) – Shortly after Friba joined the
Afghan National Police, she gave herself the nickname “dragon”
and vowed to bring law and order to her tormented homeland.

Five years later, she is tired of rebuffing the sexual
advances of male colleagues, worries the budget for the female
force will shrink and fears the government will abandon them.

HERAT, Afghanistan (Reuters) – Ghaus worked in Iran for five years but has nothing to show for it. All he has are memories of being jailed, beaten and sent home to Afghanistan.

Afghanistan’s oil-rich western neighbor has for years been a destination for Afghans seeking work or fleeing war. Afghanistan and Iran share a language, and cultural and historical links.

KABUL (Reuters) – A suicide bomber killed two Afghan guards outside a NATO-run compound in the main diplomatic area of the Afghan capital, Kabul, on Wednesday, Interior Ministry officials said, an attack that was quickly claimed by the Taliban.

“The bomber killed himself in front of the compound. Two people were killed and two more were wounded, all Afghan guards,” said Interior Ministry spokesman Najib Danesh.

KABUL, Nov 19 (Reuters) – Russian culture and language are
making a surprising comeback in Afghanistan, where the Soviets
fought a disastrous decade-long war, as Moscow vies to regain
influence ahead of the planned withdrawal of foreign troops.

Bulldozers are clearing the way for a sparkling Russian
cultural centre in Kabul, to replace its behemoth, Soviet-era
predecessor which for many came to symbolise Moscow’s war and
its humiliating 1989 defeat that cost 15,000 Soviet lives.

KABUL (Reuters) – Muzhgan Masoomi’s attacker stabbed her 14 times with a thick blade used to slaughter animals, tearing wide gashes in her flesh before leaving the government worker for dead on the outskirts of the Afghan capital.

With a severe limp and no control over her bladder – caused by the blade scraping her spinal cord – the 22-year-old can no longer work at the Ministry of Public Works, where she was a financial assistant before the assault.