Articles/Newsletters

By Zaigham Khan The Afghans love Pakistan’s national poet Iqbal so much so that one may confuse him for an Afghan due to his Persian poetry that celebrates the majesty of Afghanistan’s mountains, character of its people and nobility of its heroes. In his eulogy of Ahmad Shah Abdali, Iqbal calls Afghanistan “the heart of … Read more

By Sami Yousafzai Afghanistan has endured more than four decades of protracted conflict that entailed foreign invasions, civil wars, and sprees of terrorist violence. There is yet no clue of a certain and secure future for its nearly 40 million inhabitants. The fall of Kabul and departure of former Afghan president Ashraf Ghani were significant … Read more

By Urooj Jafri 1. Introduction and background Following the Taliban’s capture of the Afghan capital last year, thousands were seen rushing to the Kabul airport in an effort to to flee out of the country. While in the beginning many were evacuated directly to countries in the West, later some were flown out to Qatar … Read more

By Zia Ur Rehman 1. Introduction and background Pakistan has a unique relationship with Afghanistan. The two countries share a 2,570 km long border, also called Durand Line, and have numerous cultural, ethnic and religious connections. The former Afghan leader Hamid Karzai once described the two countries as “joined together like twins” and “inseparable.”[1] Yet … Read more