Iran has deported an increasing number of Afghan refugees but they keep coming back.
A group of university students have started giving free evening lessons to poor working children in a park in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. Members of the organization called Each One, Teach One say they educate children who must work to feed their families instead of attending schools.
Dozens of people said to abuse drugs are being held at one of Afghanistan's biggest prisons together with convicted criminals. Taliban officials claim Kandahar Central Prison serves as an educational and rehab center for those with drug addictions.
Footage taken by protesters on December 28 in Kabul and shared with RFE/RL showed the women chanting slogans and their march being stopped by the Taliban. Several protesters sustained injuries in a stampede after Taliban militants shot in the air to disperse the rally.
The humanitarian situation in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan was discussed at a December 19 extraordinary meeting of foreign ministers from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation.
With most high schools and jobs closed to girls and women under Taliban rule, some are trying to learn one of the few professions still open to them. A sewing studio in Farah Province is offering job training, but equipment is in short supply and students struggle to afford the materials they need.
Thousands of migrants from war-torn countries including Afghanistan, Syria, and Iraq are being temporarily housed in centers in Serbia. Most left home with little more than money, documents, a phone, and some prized personal possessions.
Ehsanullah and his wife recently had triplets. He says he doesn't have enough money to feed and clothe his family and has no choice but to sell one or two of the newborn children. According to the United Nations, almost 24 million people in Afghanistan suffer from acute hunger.
Freshta Mowahid ran three companies in Kabul with around 50 female workers. When the Taliban returned to power and barred women from most jobs, she was forced to dismiss all of her employees, many of whom were the sole breadwinners for their families.
Groups of Afghan women took to the streets this fall to protest the Taliban takeover and the regime's restrictions on their roles in public life. But after Taliban security forces met those demonstrations with violence, activists started holding smaller protests in private.
Mohadese Mirzaee, 23, became the first female airline pilot in Afghanistan less than a year before the Taliban seized power. Her career came to a sudden halt as she fled the country, fearing reprisals from the new regime. Now in Bulgaria, Mirzaee hopes to return home and resume flying.
A former Radio Azadi journalist recounts a tense, late-night drive through Taliban checkpoints as he flees from Kabul to Pakistan for an uncertain future.
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