Afghans have endured decades of repeated upheavals under successive regimes. Listen to their remarkable stories of resilience in the face of seemingly unending hardship in this series of radio documentaries, produced in Dari and Pashto.
Produced by IWPR in partnership with the Afghan Witness Project, these reports focus on one of three recent eras during which human rights abuses were part of the every day fabric of life: the Russian occupation from 1979-1989; the mujahideen/civil war era from 1990-1995; and the Taliban era from 1996-2001.
The reports seek to give voice to those who would otherwise be silenced, and will be broadcast in Dari and Pashto on local radio stations across Afghanistan.
Click these links to hear each story.
Thirty years ago, members of the communist government invited 1,300 people to a community meeting in Kunar province. However, the invitation was a ruse, and communist forces executed all of them. Nearly. A rare few lived, hidden under ...
When Hubatullah Fazely’s brother was taken to prison 30 years ago, he was 12 years old. Now a religious cleric, he is among thousands of people who lost track of their loved ones followed similar disappearances under Afghanistan’s ...
As mujahideen groups fought with communists in the 1980s, they not only targeted military forces but civilians associated with the regime. School teachers and civil servants were not spared. They were kidnapped and tried by mujahideen special courts ...
Shafiqa was 12 years old when she was made the wife of a man in Herat, during the rule of the Taliban. While her new husband was away working in Iran, she was accused of having an affair ...
Eighteen influential leaders from the tribes of northern Sar-e-Pul Provinces sought to make peace with Taliban authorities some 13 years ago. Locals there were accused of fighting alongside the Northern Alliance and many were forced from their homes. ...
Nazifa was walking home in Mazar-e-Sharif one day eight years ago when a rocket struck nearby and exploded, blinding her for life. She was 12 years old. Six months later, her brother was caught up in the front ...
Thirty years ago, Rahela lost two sisters to the mujahideen in Faryab Province, as they hunted out sympathizers of the communists. Her family was accused of working with the government and were targeted among teachers and activists in ...
When the regime of Dr. Najibullah fell in 1991, the capital turned into a war zone, as groups fought to fill the power vacuum. Civilians were swept up in the fighting, and many were killed for the ethnicity ...
Twenty-seven years ago, armed forces of the Soviet regime laid siege to Ada Farm in Nangarhar province. They arrested around 100 tribesmen, releasing only half of them and executing the others outside the village. Many years have passed, ...
Afghanistan’s youth have never known peace. Decades of war that began with the Soviets saw many children deployed to the front lines of vicious fighting. Many lost their lives, while others have survived with serious disabilities. Noor Ahmad, ...
