Afghanistan

QALA-E-NAW, Afghanistan, April 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 25,000 pistachio saplings have been distributed for plantation in Afghanistan's western Badghis province, the local government said Saturday.

It said the young trees were distributed over the past six days as part of its efforts to fight deforestation and support farmers in the provincial capital Qala-e-Naw and suburban districts.

The saplings have been grown for one year in a research farm near Qala-e-Naw, the local government said in a statement.

QALA-E-NAW, Afghanistan, April 16 (Xinhua) -- More than 25,000 pistachio saplings have been distributed for plantation in Afghanistan's western Badghis province, the local government said Saturday.

It said the young trees were distributed over the past six days as part of its efforts to fight deforestation and support farmers in the provincial capital Qala-e-Naw and suburban districts.

The saplings have been grown for one year in a research farm near Qala-e-Naw, the local government said in a statement.

QALAT, Afghanistan, Apr 14 (NNN-ANA) – Eighteen people were injured, when a pick-up truck overturned, in Afghanistan’s southern province of Zabul yesterday, a local source said, today.

“The injured people were shifted to a provincial hospital, following the accident, that occurred on a main road in Shar-e-Safa district, late yesterday,” Abdul Hakim, director of the province’s public health department, said.

Three of the wounded were in critical condition, according to the source.

JALALABAD, Afghanistan (AP) — Basheer was a young Taliban fighter barely out of his teens when the Islamic State group took over his village in eastern Afghanistan, nearly eight years ago. The militants rounded up villagers identified as Taliban and killed them, often beheading them, forcing their families to watch.

Basheer escaped and lived in hiding during the following years when IS controlled several districts in Nangarhar province. Over time, he rose in the Taliban ranks.

BAMIYAN, Afghanistan, April 9 (Xinhua) -- The picturesque Band-e-Amir was a popular tourist destination in the past but the U.S. sanctions on Afghanistan have ruined people's joy here.

Mohammad Sadat, 25, from the capital city of Kabul, came to enjoy the natural beauty and clean atmosphere in Band-e-Amir lakes. He said economic problem and poverty "have ruined the lives of Afghans and without money you can't come here for fun."

KABUL, April 6 (Xinhua) -- At least six people were wounded in a hand grenade explosion inside a big mosque in Kabul, capital of Afghanistan, on Wednesday, sources said.

"A man hurled a hand grenade inside Pul-e Khishti Mosque at mid-day. As a result, six people were wounded," the Afghan Ministry of Interior wrote on Twitter.

The wounded were shifted to hospitals and a suspected man has been arrested, according to the ministry.

The official report spelled no further details.

KABUL/PESHAWAR, April 3 (Reuters) - The Taliban announced on Sunday a ban on the cultivation of narcotics in Afghanistan, the world's biggest opium producer.

"As per the decree of the supreme leader of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, all Afghans are informed that from now on, cultivation of poppy has been strictly prohibited across the country," according to an order from the Taliban's supreme leader Haibatullah Akhundzada.

PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan, March 30 (Xinhua) -- One person has been confirmed dead and another was injured in a blast that occurred in Baghlan-e-Markazi district in Afghanistan's northern Baghlan province on Wednesday, a local resident said.

Abdul Latif, the local resident, said the blast took place at 3:00 p.m. local time in the Fabrica area, killing one man and injuring another.

In the meantime, Mawlawi Mustafa Hakimi, director at the province's department of information and culture has confirmed the incident, saying an investigation was launched into the blast.

KABUL, March 28 (Reuters) - Afghanistan's Taliban has instructed all government employees to wear a beard and adhere to a dress code or risk being fired, three sources told Reuters, the latest of several new restrictions imposed by the hardline Islamist administration.

The sources said representatives from the Ministry for the Propagation of Virtue and Prevention of Vice were patrolling the entrances to government offices on Monday to check that employees were in compliance with the new rules.

KABUL, Mar 27 (NNN-ANA) – Up to 500 people have been commissioned to the police forces, in Afghanistan’s southern Kandahar province, after receiving police training, the Afghan caretaker government said, on Sunday.

The professional policemen graduated from the Kandahar Police Training Centre yesterday, after one month of professional training, the government said in a statement.

The newly trained personnel held a parade during the graduation ceremony, and demonstrated their ability to combat drug trafficking, kidnapping and other crimes, according to the statement.