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Chapter Seven Frishta held two thermos flasks of green tea and three plastic trays of sugar-coated almonds and chocolates, and placed one tray before Mour on the Afghan rug, and the other two on the oak table in front of Agha and me. Poured the steaming tea into cups and placed them next to…

Chapter Six The rukhsati bell clanged. Every student cheered the occasion; I found it the scariest rukhsati of my life. We crossed the black school gate in the chilling weather and, thanks Khudai, saw no Rashid. Hurried by the sideway along the school walls and onto the muddy playground with pools of surface water.…

Chapter Five The wooden canteen – big enough to accommodate the salesman and a few jars of spicy simyan or a home-made snack, chickpeas, biscuits and lollipop – often took up half of our break owing to its location in the far corner of the schoolyard, and its lengthy queues. Today was no exception,…

Chapter Four A short man in a washed-out suit was gesturing. He leaned against a Russian jeep parked on the pedestrian way in front of the Russian-subsidised cooperative. My heart fell as the short man showed his red-coloured card: a KHAD agent. ‘Asnad?’ The KHAD agent checked our ‘documents’, tazkiras or birth certificates, and…

Chapter Three My routine went like this every academic year: perform the noon prayers after coming home from school, have lunch, take a siesta, drink tea with what Mour called ‘brain food’ – almonds, pistachios, walnuts and raisins – study until the five-minute cartoon film at 18:15 on television, chill with my friends until…

“ Chapter Two Curiosity took Baktash and me to an empty school a week ago. The mujahideen daily fired rockets at Kabul from the capital city’s outskirts, indiscriminately killing and injuring Kabulis. Fortunately, last week’s stinger missile hurt no one, but it created an enormous hole in the schoolyard’s garden and smashed almost all…

ReviewThe Lone Leopard is…ideal for fans of Khaled Hosseini, Nadia Hashimi and Christina Lamb —CEPSAF a powerful book that tells a story I will never forget…an emotional roller coaster…an eye-opener…that has the potential to become a classic over time. —The Rest Journal of Politics and Development a heart-wrenching, yet hopeful story of family, friendship and love set against the…conflicts of Afghanistan…an extremely good read —Bedfordshire Refugee and Asylum Seeker Support a generous, sensitive, well-researched novel which offers an informative…

  By Sharifullah Dorani*     Introduction In the literature on US involvement in Afghanistan, little attention is given to the role of neoconservatism in the George W Bush Administration. Its role in relation to pushing the US into the Iraq War, however, is covered in great detail. As I explain in my book,…

By Dr Sharifullah Dorani* Introduction This article essentially offers a literature review of the Afghanistan War during the Barack Obama Administration by focusing on public opinion and policy debate on the Afghanistan War. It mainly covers the periods for the decision to ‘surge’ American troops in Afghanistan in 2009 and the decision to ‘draw…

By Dr Sharifullah Dorani*   Introduction There is disagreement on the United States (US) motive for its intervention in Afghanistan. This essay[1]  first explains what these, often conflicting views, are. It then states what views the author has found more persuasive. The essay ends with some concluding remarks.     The various conflicting views…