The Smuggler
London Review of Books, Jul. 5, 2016
The Dari word qachaqbar means ‘the one with illicit goods’, but when I hear it in Kabul I don’t think of drugs or arms but people.
Afghans, the Refugees’ Refugees
The New York Times, May. 30, 2016
Whether the situation in Afghanistan today still formally counts as war, and whether you call them migrants or refugees, the men and women who are leaving Afghanistan are driven away by insecurity, as they have been for years.
Death from the sky
The Intercept, Apr. 28, 2016
Searching for Ground Truth in the Kunduz Hospital Bombing
The fortune-teller of Kabul
Guardian Longread, Sep. 1, 2015
For centuries mystics have channelled hopes and fears of Afghans. With the nation in turmoil, their services are as popular as ever. But can they survive the latest crackdown by religious hardliners?
Afghanistan: ‘This is not over yet’
Financial Times, Dec. 14, 2014
The Taliban’s threat and Kabul’s weakness make full disengagement unlikely
Foreign Policy Interrupted Q&A
Foreign Policy Interrupted, Nov. 8, 2014
“Afghanistan feels like unset clay right now. It’s a wonderful feeling, a sense of taking the measure of things, and finding them to be possible.”
Afghan girls’ school in Kandahar faces closure as international funds dry up
Guardian, Oct. 15, 2014
Class dismissed at Kandahar Institute of Modern Studies, a rare place of learning for girls, as military withdrawal affects civilian projects
Taliban sneak back into Kandahar, dressed as grape farmers
Guardian, Sep. 14, 2014
Around 400 people die in August after two weeks of fighting as many blame Afghan election gridlock for aiding the insurgency
Heart-Achingly Young in a Heartbreaking Place
The New Quarterly, Jul. 22, 2014
In the end, we all go towards things that make us feel.
Kabul’s City on the Hill
The New York Times, Jun. 9, 2014
A mountain neighborhood of the Afghan capital is a microcosm of a country divided, by ethnicity and status.