Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai is in the Qatari capital Doha on a two-day visit, aimed at accelerating possible negotiations with the Taliban, and will discuss establishing a contact office for the Afghan insurgents in the Gulf Arab state, a U.S. ally.

The opening of a political office by the Taliban and pushing the Afghan peace process will be high on Karzai's agenda in talks with Qatari officials, Faiq Wahidi, a spokesman for the Afghan president told Radio Free Europe.

"During this trip, the two sides are expected to discuss the various aspects of the Afghan peace process. We will also talk about establishing a contact office in Qatar for the armed opponents of Afghanistan's government," Wahidi said. more >>

A group of soldiers on patrol in Afghanistan discovered a baby wrapped in a towel and left abandoned near a military base, according to a Defense Ministry spokesman. The two-day-old child was named Pola by the unit of Polish soldiers who found her.

The unit of Polish soldiers were reportedly doing a safety check of a route near the Waghez military base when the baby was discovered on a side road, according to The Associated Press, which cited Defense Ministry spokesman Janusz Walczak in its report.

The troops, who were reportedly patrolling the area for improvised explosive devices, or IEDs, were at first cautious when they discovered Baby Pola wrapped in a towel. more >>

Walk into the aouli, or courtyard, of an Afghan woman and follow the little girl into the living room where the female host sits on the carpet waiting to have tea with her guest. You are that guest transported to that living room in faraway and foreign Afghanistan as Kate McCord's book In the Land of Blue Burqas sweeps you up and gently sets you down in rickety rickshaws next to an intimidating-looking man with a black-beard below his sneer, or a small living room with cotton floor mats where a gathering of women sit with small plates of candies, nuts, and raisins each within arms' reach as they share stories and laugh.

This is Afghanistan where people struggle against ever-present hardships, poverty, violence, gender discrimination, and anti-American indoctrination, but somehow opened their hearts and homes to a blond, blue-eyed, middle-aged unmarried American woman who learned the local Dari language, respectfully followed the dress code and culture, and shared about the love and teaching of Jesus Christ.

Kate McCord (protective pseudonym) recently spoke to The Christian Post about her five years in Afghanistan and the Afghan people, including common misperceptions – on both sides – the life of Afghan women, child marriage, and the underground Christian population. more >>

On Tuesday 160 schoolgirls and teachers were admitted to a hospital after a suspected poisoning at a school in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province -- the third such large-scale attack against female students this year.

The female students, ranging in age from 10 to 20 years old, had been poisoned in their classrooms by a contaminated spray that caused the girls to suffer from vomiting, headaches, and dizziness. The attack occurred at the Ashan Dara Girls School in Talokhan.

A similar attack occurred last week in which over 120 teachers and students were admitted to a local hospital. more >>

Around 150 Afghan high school aged girls were poisoned on Tuesday in northern Afghanistan in what many suspect is an attack on females seeking education.

The schoolgirls were poisoned by contaminated water in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province, causing them to suffer from severe headaches and vomiting.

Some of the affected students remain in critical condition over the poisoning. more >>

A new report released by Human Rights Watch this week argues that despite the ousting of the Taliban, women and girls in Afghanistan continue to live in precarious conditions with hundreds of females spending years behind bars for committing "moral crimes," which sometimes include being victims of rape.

The report, "I Had to Run Away: Women and Girls Imprisoned for 'Moral Crimes' In Afghanistan," was published by Human Rights Watch on Wednesday and details the circumstances of women and girls in Afghanistan's female detention centers.

The report outlines the "crimes" that send women and girls into detention centers, often for years at a time, which include fleeing a situation of domestic violence or being the victim of rape. more >>