Roads to Islamabad were blocked by shipping containers as Pakistan's government aimed to prevent a march on the capital by the banned Tehrik-e-Labaik Party (TLP). Police were deployed on October 22 to stop the protest related to a French magazine's caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad last year.
Jan Mersa Mohammad was a small child when his family fled the conflict in Afghanistan, making part of the journey to Europe on foot and by boat. Now 14 and settled in Budapest, Jan feels at home in his new country and dreams of making a career as a professional soccer player.
Mursal Kohistani, a student from Parwan province in Afghanistan, spoke to RFE/RL’s Radio Azadi on October 20. In her words, although secondary and high schools are still open for girls, little is happening in them. (RFE/RL's Radio Azadi)
Locals say a protest that took place in Kabul on October 21 shows the increasing desperation of Afghan women, whose freedoms have been stripped away by the Taliban since the hard-line Islamists seized power on August 15.
Anger is rising in Pakistan, with protests breaking out as inflation hits hard. In Peshawar, the price of naan bread jumped 25 percent in just two weeks as the cost of flour went up for bakeries. The Economist has ranked Pakistan's overall inflation rate as the fourth highest in the world.
Protesters in Pakistan marched through the city of Rawalpindi, outraged over the rising price of food, fuel, and common household items. The October 20 demonstration was part of a nationwide campaign of protests launched by opposition parties in Pakistan.
Pakistani officials say a policeman was killed in an explosion in the city of Quetta in the province of Balochistan. The October 18 blast also wounded 13 policemen and four civilians. A police spokesman said the bomb was planted on a motorbike parked near a police van.
Drug addicts rounded up by the Taliban brace for 45 days of painful and anxiety-ridden withdrawal at the Avicenna Medical Hospital for Drug Treatment in Kabul.
The rising number of executions of former army and police in Afghanistan is being taken as clear evidence that the Taliban is not living up to its pledges of a general amnesty for all members of the ousted Afghan government's security forces.
Nimroz Province in Afghanistan's southwest is located on major drug trafficking routes to Iran and Pakistan. Since the Taliban's return to power in August, three drug rehab centers in Nimroz have closed due to a lack of funding while users fend for themselves on the streets.
Marzia Babakarkhil, an Afghan judge, spoke to RFE/RL's Radio Azadi on October 10 about the dangers women judges face in Afghanistan as the Taliban do not acknowledge women in the role of a judge. (RFE/RL's Radio Azadi)
Many media outlets across Afghanistan have shut down in the wake of the Taliban takeover, with some journalists leaving the profession or the country out of fear of reprisals. Gul Ahmad Almas, a former freelance journalist, has turned to heavy labor to make a meager income.
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