Alex Thomson
Kabul: where entering your hotel is a daily battle
A history of conflict and a decade of nation-building means that getting in and out of Kabul hotels – each of which is a sizeable target – is a real accomplishment.
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Alex Thomson
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Alex Thomson
Expect more posturing over Afghanistan
Will the Taliban renounce “international terrorism” as the US demands? Will they get their prisoners out of Guantanamo Bay? And will they recognise the Karzai regime in Kabul at all? Once you see movement on this you can start taking matters seriously.
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Alex Thomson
The two faces of Afghanistan
Afghans enjoy winter sports after Friday prayers in Tabul – but a cemetery nearby reveals another side to Afghanistan’s ancient city.
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Afghan women's rights: the wedding that defies convention
I’ve been to a few Afghan wedding celebrations. As you’d expect, they’re full of joy, music and dancing; and way too much food
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A small step forward in Kabul's Hotel California
The fact that the Kabul conference is taking place is undoubtedly a step forward, blogs Lindsey Hilsum. But the Afghan government will soon be expected to organise mult-million dollar development projects and reintegrate the Taliban.
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Jon Snow
Afghanistan: a $33bn turning point?
Eight long years and Congress this week is considering a further subvention of $33bn dollars to the Afghan war effort, blogs Jon Snow.
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Journalists face Afghan attacks reporting ban
It is a completely baffling decision that makes an already dangerous job even more difficult, and threatens to undermine the principles of society-building that allegedly began the entire NATO exercise.
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An everyday tale of Nato being bonkers
OK, let’s be clear, all we wanted to do was to go and collect our ISAF (NATO) accreditation.
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After the Kabul bomb attack
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN Again the Taliban or insurgency have left their mark on the Afghan capital. Its city centre shopping centre and Safi Hotel left a shattered wreck. In the gooey mud of Kabul’s semi-paved roads and non-paved pavements, piles of glass mingle into the freezing, oozy mud.
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Afghan attack: Kabul is a target because of its profile
Alex Thomson reflects on the attacks in Kabul and why the Afghan capital city has become such a target.
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Afghan attacks show Kabul is not safe any more
The latest suicide bombings in Kabul highlight that the city is no longer safe, writes Nick Paton Walsh.
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Poor turnout at the Afghan polls
Nothing in my morning today amounts to anything like scientific research. But it does chime with what the scientific experts are now saying. I’ve been along to a number of Kabul high schools in the past hour or two with some simple questions. Ana I have received simple answers from the helpful and…
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On the edge in Afghanistan
We made two good decisions yesterday. First, when we walked into the stadium (the one where the Taliban used to stone people to death) for Abdullah Abdullah’s rally, we took a look at the rickety wooden stage they’d built for the camera crews to stand on, and decided to set up our tripod on the…
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Taliban attacks cause confusion in Kabul
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN – It’s hard to either feel safe or scared most of the time in Kabul. Part of the city wants to be like Baghdad; security companies whisk people back and forth from the airport, HESCO barriers line some roads, and large chunks of the government and Nato apparatus are concealed behind barbed wire…
