KABUL, Feb 20 (Reuters) – The sounds produced by the
three Afghan athletes going to the London summer Olympics are
fierce: elongated wails ricochet off the chipped and dilapidated
walls of the taekwondo centre, while leather smacks and slaps at
the boxing gym.

In a country wrenched by decades of war, perhaps it is no
surprise that all three, a taekwondo male duo including Beijing
bronze medallist Rohullah Nikpai, and teenage female boxer Sadaf
Rahimi, followed fighting sports.

KABUL (Reuters) – Russia hopes to embark on a series of ambitious construction projects in Afghanistan aimed at reinforcing fragile stability in the country where Soviet troops fought a disastrous, decade-long war, its envoy to Kabul said Thursday.

Though not connected by land, Moscow sees war-ravaged Afghanistan as a neighbor and is concerned by what it describes as the two-pronged threat of drugs and terrorism which reach Russia through ex-Soviet Central Asian countries.

KABUL (Reuters) – The Taliban used the 23rd anniversary of the humiliating Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan on Wednesday to taunt the United States that it would suffer the same fate as preparations to hand over security to a shaky government are underway.

“Selfish Americans must learn a lesson from … the Russian defeat and no longer fight a meaningless battle with zealous Afghans and take their invading forces out as soon as possible,” the Afghan Taliban said in an e-mailed statement to media.

KABUL (Reuters) – An Afghan government request that female television presenters don headscarves and avoid heavy make-up angered journalists on Tuesday, who said the move was proof authorities expected the Taliban to regain a share of power.

Afghan and U.S. officials have been seeking peace negotiations with the Islamist group ousted over a decade ago as a means to ensure stability after foreign combat troops leave, though the talks are in a very fragile state.

KABUL, Feb 14 (Reuters) – An Afghan government request
that female television presenters don headscarves and avoid
heavy make-up angered journalists on Tuesday, who said the move
was proof authorities expected the Taliban to regain a share of
power.

Afghan and U.S. officials have been seeking peace
negotiations with the Islamist group ousted over a decade ago as
a means to ensure stability after foreign combat troops leave,
though the talks are in a very fragile state.

KABUL, Feb 7 (Reuters) – Dwindling development aid as
the war winds down in Afghanistan means child labour in the
impoverished country is at risk of becoming more widespread, the
International Labour Organisation (ILO) warned on Tuesday.

Half of Afghanistan’s population of 30 million are under 15,
with almost two million children in full or part-time work,
UNICEF estimates of a country where war, poverty, unemployment
and pride in having large families have created a huge underage
labour market.

KABUL (Reuters) – A secret U.S. military report says that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, Britain’s Times of London newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), confirmed the document’s existence but said it was not a strategic assessment of operations.

KABUL (Reuters) – A secret U.S. military report says that the Taliban, backed by Pakistan, are set to retake control over Afghanistan after NATO-led forces withdraw from the country, The Times newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Lt Col Jimmie Cummings, a spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), confirmed the document’s existence but said it was not a strategic assessment of operations.

KABUL (Reuters) – Germany this week returned an ancient pre-Islamic sculpture looted during Afghanistan’s civil war, giving hope to Kabul’s cultural mavens that the rest of its stolen treasures will also make their way home.

Eight figures, one missing a torso and others without noses, make up the 30-cm high (12 inches) limestone antiquity from the second century AD, a reminder of Afghanistan’s rich classical past as a confluence of cultures on the crossroads of Asia.