News (Consolidated) - UNSOM

KANDAHAR - Kandahar Provincial Council held its regular meeting chaired by the PC Head Haji Ehsan Ehsan who submitted the report of “Good Coordination” meeting which was held in Kandahar Governor House. According to Mr. Ehsan the meeting, aimed to establish Good Coordination between Maiwand, Zherai…

BALKH - Below is a quick summary of headlines in the province. The asphalting of a road across from the Balkh provincial police office was inaugurated by the Minister of Public Works in the presence of Balkh Provincial Governor and MPs. Balkh provincial chief of police Esmatullah Alizai held the…

KABUL - Whether you sit down and have a cup of tea with Omara Khan Massoudi, the Director of the National Museum, or Nancy Hatch Dupree, Afghanistan’s grandmother, every one of the country’s cultural experts has an informed opinion about how the international community can help preserve Afghanistan…

KABUL - “The country is so rich – put a shovel anywhere and you will come back with something!” “The country” is, of course, none other than Afghanistan – the crossroads for marauding conquerors from surrounding civilizations since time immemorial. And eternally hatching ideas on how to get Afghans…

BAMYAN - Afghanistan’s central province of Bamyan possess some of the world’s most renowned archaeological sites from the fifth century, which are most often referred to in seminal studies on the history and archaeology of central Asia. The strategic location of Bamyan valley on the old Silk Route…

KABUL - “Come first to me,” he called out from behind a stall in chaste English. His eyes intently winnowing genuine customers from holiday crowds, unknown to the hands that carefully lined some oversized combat helmets next to what looked like a pair of, at least, 70-year-old muskets. “I give you…

KABUL - The River Kokcha flows northwards down the Hindu Kush, passing through Faizabad, and joins the Amu Darya river, the Oxus of history and legend. On the right hand bank of the river is one of the most extraordinary historical sites in Afghanistan: the remains of an entire Greek city, known…

KABUL - As a part of UNAMA's campaign to spread awareness about Afghanistan's rich past, Aditya Mehta spoke to UNESCO Director Shigeru Aoyagi about the agency's concerns and plans for the future. The United Nations Education, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has been working in…

JALALABAD - It wasn’t just the Muslims of Jalalabad who celebrated the holy festival of Eid with pomp and jubilation in the last week of November 2009. In downtown Jalalabad, minority Hindu-Sikhs were also euphoric about the festival of their Muslim neighbours. They reached their Muslim brothers’…

WINDSOR - One belief that the Western world often held about Asia and the East was that it was a land of enormous luxury and wealth. One Western poet from the 19th century, James Elroy Flecker, summed up this view by describing the way eastwards as “The Golden Road.” Although the West might not have…

KABUL - As a part of the Mission’s campaign to raise awareness about Afghanistan’s rich past, Kabul Musuem Director Omara Khan Massoudi spoke to UNAMA on his desire to see the musuem rise from the ashes. Afghanistan has a very ancient civilization. From 1922, when the first protocol was signed…

HERAT - Experts cannot state with precision when the old city of Herat was built as it stands today. Herat’s history as a human settlement dates as far back as the Iron Age, and under Alexander the Great, during pre-Islamic times, the city was already a well known location. Genghis Khan destroyed it…