Afghanistan

Lost in limbo (2022)

Thousands of Afghan migrants in Turkey — still awaiting help from the West, including Canada — now face deportation.

Those Left Behind (2022)

On August 25, 2021, the Taliban returned to power in Afghanistan. Over the following days and weeks, hundreds of thousands attempted to flee the country. Some managed to escape. Most didn’t.

Legitimizing the Taliban (2022)

As the Taliban tighten their grip on Afghanistan, the international community loosens is criteria for engagement.

The Last Trip Out of Afghanistan (2021)

In the chaotic aftermath of the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan, two families make a frantic attempt to escape to Canada.

On the Run (2021)

Even before the Taliban takeover, Afghanistan’s new generation of artists and activists were feeling under threat. A Taliban execution campaign had killed hundreds. Many had left the country, or were planning to flee.

America’s Failure in Afghanistan (2021)

The list of America’s unfinished business is long, and bloody. And it is growing longer with the plan to abandon Afghanistan in its time of need.

The end of Trump’s Afghan peace fantasy (2019)

Trump seemed to finally grasp what everyone in Afghanistan already knew: The Taliban can’t be trusted.

As Kandahar finds peace, Canada finds its own kind of vindication (2018)

Eight years after Canadian forces left Kandahar province, its rural villages were tentatively on the mend. I returned see what legacy Canada had left behind.

It’s time for a hard look at Operation Medusa (2017)

I was there in the lead up to Medusa, and witnessed the fallout. It was a flawed operation and Harjit Sajjan’s role was a problem.

Once Were Poets (2015)

The tragedy of war, the dismantling of an entire culture, has hit ethnic Pashtuns in Afghanistan and Pakistan hardest. Historically, the Pashtuns have had a rich tradition of music and poetry; today they’re known mostly as warriors.

Should Canada designate the Taliban a Terrorist organization? (2013)

In the spring of 2013, Canada added the Taliban to its list of terrorist entities. In this column I argued why that was a mistake.

From Afghanistan to the UAE: the journey of a gemstone (2010)

Tracing the arc of value of a ruby extracted from the mines in Afghanistan to Dubai’s gold souk, and the lives of the people chasing crystal dreams.

The Long March of the Kuchi (2006)

Afghanistan’s pastoral nomads occupy a storied place in Afghanistan’s history. Over the recent decades of war, they have delicately navigated its socio-political landscape.