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The article discusses the dangers faced by policewomen in Afghanistan and what these dangers say about gender equality in the nation. Topics discussed include the impact of U.S. involvement in Afghanistan in the 21st century on the nation's social views, the views towards women held by Islamic fundamentalist organization the Taliban, and the sexual harassment of policewomen in the nation.

The article discusses the impact that the militant organization the Taliban's occupation of Kunduz, Afghanistan had on women in the city, including in regard to the Taliban's destruction of organizations in the city that involved women and Kunduz women's internal migration. An overview of the accusations that members of the Taliban raped women in Kunduz is provided.

The article states that the aid organization Doctors Without Borders, also known as Médecins Sans Frontières, announced in early October 2015 that it was leaving Kunduz, Afghanistan, following an airstrike on the city's hospital that killed 22 and destroyed its intensive care unit. According to the article, the U.S. agency the Department of Defense said that U.S. forces may have inadvertently hit the hospital during a military operation, though fighters from the Islamic fundamentalist group the Taliban may have been inside the hospital firing at U.S. troops.

The article discusses the diplomatic strategies of Islamic fundamentalist organization the Taliban as of June 25, 2013, highlighting its establishment of a political office in Doha, Qatar and continued violence in Afghanistan. Topics addressed include the political backgrounds of Taliban delegates sent to the Doha office including Sohail Shaheen, Mohammad Naim Wardak, and Shabuddin Delawar, and the Taliban's motivations for establishing the Doha office.

The article discusses Islamic fundamentalist organization the Taliban's efforts to establish peace talks regarding the conflict in Afghanistan as of June 18, 2013, highlighting the Taliban's opening of a political office in Qatar. Topics addressed include the Taliban's political motivations and goals, and diplomatic relations between the Taliban, the U.S. government, and Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The article discusses the effectiveness of a peace envoy of emissaries from the Taliban fundamentalist organization that was sent to Qatar in order to negotiate a peace deal related to the Afghan war in 2010. Topics addressed include a lack of negotiations between the Taliban and American and Afghan diplomats, and discussions of the possible release of Taliban and American prisoners.

The article discusses Afghan President Hamid Karzai's claims that the United States has a goal of destabilizing Afghanistan. Topics addressed include a visit to Afghanistan by U.S. Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, Karzai's criticism of the Western media's reporting on the future of Afghanistan after 2014, and the United States' relationship with the Taliban Islamic fundamentalist organization.

The article discusses the development of the Afghanistan National Institute of Music, founded in 2010, and its role in changing the social and cultural context of a country in which music was banned for years by the fundamentalist organization, the Taliban. The opportunities given to many young Afghan children through the school, including trips to the United States to visit Carnegie Hall and Broadway in New York, New York, are described, and the school's mission to include girls in music education is highlighted.

The article discusses safety concerns among Afghans and Afghan farmers in light of the planned 2014 American and British military troop reduction in the Afghan War, focusing on their worries about the return of the Taliban to Afghanistan's Helmand Province. Topics include farming policies regarding the production of opium poppy plants, political corruption in Afghanistan's government, as well as statistics about violent attacks in the province.

The article reports on challenges faced by Afghan security forces for preventing attacks from the terrorist group Taliban on two southern Afghan provinces including Lashkar Gah in Helmand Province and Uruzgan Province.

The article discuses the issues of assault by the Islamic organization Taliban in Kunduz, Afghanistan along with a national security threat faced by Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani in Kunduz.

The article reports on the efforts of government forces of Afghanistan to retake the city of Kunduz, Afghanistan from fighters of Taliban terrorist group and presents views of Ahmad Khalid, resident of Kunduz, Afghanistan, on fear among the residents of the city.

The article reports on the terrorist attacks held by Taliban in three provinces in Afghanistan on May 12, 2014 that killed at least 11 people.

The article reports that Sushmita Banerjee, the author of the famous memoir of life under the Taliban which was made into a great Bollywood movie was killed on September 5, 2013.

The article reports that the attack of Taliban on an Afghan police convoy on August 29, 2013 at the main highway between Herat and Kandahar, Afghanistan prompts call for international air support.

The article reports on the attack of Taliban into Provincial Reconstruction Team Base, an international military base in Afghanistan, on August 28, 2013 which has killed seven people.

The article reports on the complete removal of the flag and flagpole Taliban in Qatar, that had led the Afghan delegations to boycott negotiations, but whether the change would push Afghanistan to Qatar for the peace talks is still in question.

The article reports that Afghan President Hamid Karzai has restrained the two strategic lines of the negotiation of the U.S. with the Taliban.

The article reports that the local police and the National Army (A.N.A.) in Afghanistan rae taking lead against the terrorist group Taliban, in which American and Afghan officials considers the move as a crucial test to the ability of Afghan forces to keep the said terrorist group.

The article reports on the changed focus of the international forces in Kabul, Afghanistan, under the leadership of General Joseph F. Dunford Jr., to prepare Afghan forces to resist the Taliban despite its political and economic issues.

The article reports that eight soldiers that are part of U.S. military coalition were killed in Afghanistan on May 4, 2013 due to the insider attack, wherein the Taliban claimed responsibility for the said attack.

The article reports on the plan of U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry to host a meeting in Brussels, Belgium with top Afghanistan and Pakistan leaders to try to foster cooperation over the stalled reconciliation process with the Taliban and other issues.

The article reports on the abduction of 11 civilians by Taliban after their helicopter goes down in Afghanistan.

The article offers an overview of the educational system in Marja, Afghanistan which has been considered as among the most moving developments in the poverty-stricken area and has gained popular support, marking a sign of hope even if the Taliban returns.

The article reports on the joint American-Afghan military raid against the Taliban group in a mountain village in Afghanistan, which killed 7 civilians during the operation.

The article reports on the assassination of Najia Sediqi, who is the acting head of women's affairs in Laghman Province in Afghanistan. Ahmad Gul Baidar, the head of administrative affairs for the women's department, says that two assailants on a motorcycle killed Sediqi as she was getting into a rickshaw in Mehtar Lam. The death of Hanifa Safi, former women's affairs head, caused by the explosion of an improvised bomb under her car was attributed to the Taliban.

The article reports that six Taliban prisoners were executed following an order from Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai. It states that the six prisoners who were hanged at the Pol-e-Charki prison in Kabul, Afghanistan. It mentions that the prisoners have been convicted of terrorist attacks including kidnappings, assassinations, and suicide bombings.

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban made a show of force across a province of northeastern Afghanistan on Friday, Afghan officials said, attacking dozens of government installations but causing relatively few deaths or injuries. The insurgent forces struck at least six districts of Kunar Province, attacking district governors' offices, police and army outposts, and other government buildings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Local officials in western Afghanistan reported Tuesday that a low-level police commander had switched sides with his men and gone to fight for the Taliban, and an American engineer was reported killed in an area less than 50 miles from the Afghan capital. The apparent defection occurred in the Bala Baluk district of Farah Province in the far west part of the country, where the Taliban have been active. The province borders the Taliban heartland of Helmand Province and the largely lawless Ghor Province. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Afghan president's spokesman sternly rebuked American officials on Saturday, saying that the civilian casualties last week during an NATO-Afghan raid on Taliban fighters in eastern Afghanistan were unacceptable, not only because of the loss of innocent life but also because Afghan forces were not involved in the decision to call in an airstrike. Aimal Faizi, the spokesman, said American forces had made a ''unilateral'' decision to strike a home where Taliban fighters were hiding before dawn on Wednesday, while the Afghan forces were prepared to fight it out. Afghan officials have said 18 civilians were killed, and Mr. Faizi said it was the bombing that had killed women and children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Four aid workers, including two women, who were abducted May 22 were freed early Saturday in a NATO rescue operation in northern Afghanistan, according to a NATO spokesman and a Swiss-based aid organization, Medair. Captured by insurgents while returning from a visit to a nutrition and hygiene project in the remote mountainous region of Badakhshan Province, the group included two Afghans who worked with the aid organization. The area is so remote that it can be reached only on horseback, and the four were riding back when they were abducted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban suicide bombers and gunmen barraged the diplomatic quarter and the Parliament in the Afghan capital for hours on Sunday and struck three eastern provinces as well, in a complex attack clearly designed to undermine confidence in NATO and Afghan military gains. Though the overall confirmed death toll was low, with six victims initially reported across four provinces, they were among the most audacious coordinated terrorist attacks here in recent years. The multiple sieges ended in Kabul on Monday morning after nearly 18 hours, and silence fell on the city with roads in the bullet-strafed areas beginning to reopen. The last of the attacks to be resolved was the one on the Parliament, which ended at 7:30 a.m., according to a statement by the Afghan Interior Ministry. ''The situation is normal,'' the ministry said. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The potential scope of the fallout from the burning of several copies of the Koran by American military personnel this week became chillingly clear on Thursday as a man in an Afghan Army uniform shot and killed two American soldiers, while a crowd nearby protested the desecration of the Muslim holy book. In the third successive day of deadly violence over the Koran burning, seven Afghans were killed in three provinces on Thursday and many more were injured, most in skirmishes with Afghan security forces. The Afghan government, which had responded slowly on the first day of protests, was in high gear on Thursday as officials tried to tamp down emotions ahead of the Friday day of prayer. Western and Afghan authorities feared that there could be emotional demonstrations after the prayer that the Taliban and extremist elements would try to exploit. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In an insurgency, everyone is an imposter. The enemy wears no uniform and carries no identity card. Just so with a mullah in Kandahar named Noorul Aziz. After trading his job as a Taliban commander for a cushy post as an Afghan government official, the story goes, he was taken last month by the military coalition on a tour of his old bases, where he made speeches to persuade the locals not to support the insurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ISLAMABAD, Pakistan -- The prospect of talks with the Taliban inched closer on Thursday when the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistan and Iran met to explore ways of pushing the nascent peace process forward. The two-day trilateral meeting hosted by the Pakistani president, Asif Ali Zardari, comes as his Afghan counterpart, Hamid Karzai, claims to have opened direct discussions with the Taliban for the first time in the 11-year-old insurgency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- President Hamid Karzai said Wednesday in an interview with The Wall Street Journal that his representatives had begun talks with the Taliban and the American government, a potentially significant development suggesting that the Taliban were dropping longstanding objections to face-to-face discussions with the Afghan government. A member of the Afghan High Peace Council also described the recent Afghan government contacts to The New York Times this week and said that there had been an agreement with Taliban representatives to go ahead with peace talks in the Persian Gulf state of Qatar, but there was no date yet for meetings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- More Taliban insurgents are being killed or captured than ever before, yet when the captives are interrogated by the American military, they remain convinced that they are winning the war. That is because the Taliban believe that their own hearts-and-minds campaign is winning over Afghans -- or so they tell their interrogators -- and even converting a growing number of Afghan government officials and soldiers. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Several Taliban negotiators have begun meeting with American officials in Qatar, where they are discussing preliminary trust-building measures, including a possible prisoner transfer, several former Taliban officials said Saturday. The former officials said that four to eight Taliban representatives had traveled to Qatar from Pakistan to set up a political office for the exiled Afghan insurgent group. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The senior American commander in Afghanistan suggested Tuesday that American forces could remain in the country beyond 2014 despite President Obama's pledge to withdraw them by then. The commander's remarks amounted to the most emphatic signal to date that the United States military intended to secure a presence here, possibly for years. In an interview with The New York Times, the commander, Gen. John R. Allen, avoided talking about troop levels as America begins to wind down its operations in the war on the Taliban insurgency, now 10 years old. But he said negotiations with the government of President Hamid Karzai on a strategic partnership agreement would ''almost certainly'' include ''a discussion with Afghanistan of what a post-2014 force will look like.'' [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

LASHKAR GAH, Afghanistan -- Punctually, at 8 o'clock every evening, the cellphone signals disappear in this provincial capital. Under pressure from the Taliban, the major carriers turn off their signal towers, effectively severing most of the connections to the rest of the world. This now occurs in some portion of more than half the provinces in Afghanistan, and exemplifies the Taliban's new and more subtle ways of asserting themselves, even as NATO generals portray the insurgents as a diminished force less able to hold ground. The question is whether the Taliban need to hold territory as they once did in order to influence the population. Increasingly, it seems, the answer is no. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- In his first public appearance since rushing back to Afghanistan after the assassination of the country's leading peace broker, a solemn President Hamid Karzai said Thursday that the Taliban had gained access to their target by wooing senior leaders with an audio CD suggesting that peace was within reach. Mr. Karzai's statement and an account from a former Taliban member who helped bring the bomber to the peace broker, Burhanuddin Rabbani, the former Afghan president who led the country's High Peace Council, painted a picture of a dark and complex plot that unfolded over four months to enable the assassin to move in on his target. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- An assassin with explosives hidden in his turban was ushered into the home of the head of Afghanistan's peace process on Tuesday, embraced him and then exploded the bomb, killing him and dealing a potentially devastating blow to the effort to reconcile with the Taliban and end 10 years of war. The assassination of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the leader of Afghanistan's High Peace Council and a former president, on the heels of a carefully planned attack on the American Embassy a week ago, underscored the fierce opposition of those who want to shatter the country's tenuous stability and thwart its tentative steps toward peace. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban have begun to send signals that they are interested in a negotiated settlement, potentially offering an opening for the West and the Afghan government, several Western officials said. While there have been some meetings between the Afghan government, NATO officials and some Taliban figures -- and even with someone who turned out to be a Taliban imposter -- the Taliban have always insisted that NATO troops would have to leave Afghanistan before any meaningful negotiations could take place. Now two recent statements suggest instead that they would be willing to engage in talks even with foreigners in the country. The Taliban are also speaking in less inflammatory terms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- The Taliban launched one of their most audacious surprise attacks on Thursday, sending a squad of at least seven suicide bombers into the capital of a relatively stable southern province with the aim of assassinating the provincial governor and an influential powerbroker. Neither was killed, but security and health officials said at least 21 civilians had died in the collateral mayhem, half of them children. The Taliban attack in the capital of Oruzgan Province, Tirin Kot, appeared to be carefully coordinated. It struck at the heart of Afghanistan's south just as the American-led NATO command is in the process of gradually handing over security responsibility to the Afghan government after nearly 10 years of war, and it raised new alarms about the government's capabilities when the foreign forces eventually leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan -- An insurgent suicide bomber hiding explosives in his turban assassinated the mayor of Kandahar on Wednesday, the third killing of a high-profile official in the country this month. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the mayor, who held dual citizenship in Afghanistan and the United States. The killing came two weeks after a suicide bomber used the same disguise to attack senior mullahs at a memorial for the former provincial chairman of Kandahar, Ahmed Wali Karzai, who was also assassinated, heightening concerns that the tenuous security gains in the violent south are faltering despite months of intensified fighting by NATO and Afghan forces. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

KARZ, Afghanistan -- The marble grave of the Afghan president's half brother, assassinated two weeks ago by one of his own men, lies in this scruffy village that is near Kandahar and bears the family name. The white stone has a quiet to it that stands in stark contrast to the din he left behind. Ahmed Wali Karzai's killing put the region's spoils up for grabs, and the tribal elite of Kandahar are watching, waiting, and above all, calculating their next move. They all want a piece of the future, and among them are strong men with guns. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Taliban spokesmen denied reports sent through their e-mail and in text messages early Wednesday that their movement's leader, Mullah Muhammad Omar, was dead, saying that their Web sites and telephones had been hacked. Zabiullah Mujahid, one of the spokesmen, reached by telephone, said: ''The enemy hijacked our telephone numbers and e-mails. They have sent out false texts and statements about death of Mullah Omar. In reality he is alive and in good condition.'' The e-mail message said he had died of a heart attack and named his successor. Mr. Mujahid added that Mullah Omar was in Afghanistan, but military and intelligence sources have said they believe that he is in Pakistan, most likely in Karachi. A second Taliban spokesman, Qari Yousuf Ahmadi, also denied the reports. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

KABUL, Afghanistan -- Taliban fighters attacked and overran several Afghan border police posts on Wednesday, killing nearly two dozen police officers in a remote area of northeastern Afghanistan, according to the provincial governor. ''Twenty-three Afghan border police officers were martyred and seven others were wounded,'' said Jamaluddin Badar, governor of Nuristan Province, where the attack took place. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]