IWPR: A profusion of local militias in the northern Afghan province of Baghlan are presenting a serious threat to security, according to participants in a recent IWPR debate. The situation is further complicated by the semi-legal status of some of the armed groups, recruited by the government to try and help keep order.      Full news...

The Guardian: The US military and the CIA are turning a blind eye as Afghanistan’s spy agency spends foreign donor money on militias which are committing human rights abuses that help destabilise the fragile country, according to local and western officials. The Afghan national directorate of security (NDS) arms strongmen ostensibly to fight the Taliban and other militants.      Full news...

The Washington Post: For 30 years, Gen. Abdurrashid Dostum has reigned as northern Afghanistan’s untouchable warrior-king: first as a ruthless pro-communist general, later as an armed U.S. ally against the Taliban and finally as a reliable, if unsavory, political boss who could deliver votes from his ethnic Uzbek followers.      Full news...

Hambastagi.org (Translated by RAWA): The heart wrenching cries of a father of two young girls who were forced into marriage with a warlord in Khewa district of Nangahar province, has been echoing in the media and social networking websites for days, wounding the conscience of everyone. This incident had occurred months back but officials in Nangarhar province had threatened and deceived the father to silence this case, like they had in hundreds of other cases of crimes and atrocities committed by local powerful men.      Full news...

IWPR: Large numbers of unregistered madrassas, or religious schools, operating in Afghanistan may be serving as a source of extremist recruitment, according to speakers at a series of IWPR debates. Public events held in August and September heard that the government urgently needed to crack down on institutions with no specific curriculum and no official oversight.      Full news...

Asia Times: One of the most colorful figures of the Afghan jihad, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, recently signed a peace deal with Kabul which is also seen as a back-to-back US-Pakistan deal. Hekmatyar, who lives in Pakistan with his family, is known for his anti-Indian views. As India openly supports Baluchi nationalists in Pakistan, Islamabad wants to sever the ties between Delhi and Kabul and Hekmatyar can guarantee that in future. India has reason to be worried.      Full news...

Human Rights Watch: The Afghan government should prosecute militia members responsible for killings and other abuses against civilians in Afghanistan’s northern Faryab province in late June, 2016, Human Rights Watch said today. Human Rights Watch interviewed villagers in the aftermath of the attack.      Full news...

RAWA.org: On July 13, 2016, the people of Rostaq district of Takhar province protested against the crimes and savagery of warlords under the leadership of Pirum Qul (supported by Abdul Rashid Dostum) once more. Pirum Qul’s gunmen opened fire on the peaceful protest and injured a number of people, but the people are fed up and have sworn to continue their struggle against the current situation.      Full news...

Khaama Press: A video purportedly showing parts of an interview with the Afghan MP and Cleric Qazi Nazir Ahmad Hanafi has put him under fire as the video has rapidly gone viral on the internet. The video shows a female foreign reporter asking questions from Qazi Hanafi regarding violence against women.      Full news...

Dawn.com: City police are hunting a man accused of raping an 18-year-old dancer after inviting her to perform at his residence in Peshawar. The suspect is believed to be a member of the Afghan parliament. A First Information Report (FIR) was registered at Hayatabad Police Station on the victim's complaint.      Full news...

The New York Times: A series of home raids by C.I.A.-trained Afghan counterterrorism forces in the last month resulted in the deaths of at least six innocent civilians, according to Afghan government officials, reviving an issue that has been a chronic source of tension between Afghanistan and the United States.      Full news...

TOLOnews.com: A police force member claimed on Monday that he was severely beaten up by the guards of second Vice President Mohammad Sarwar Danish. The footage filmed by TOLOnews shows a policeman, Aimal Qaderi, all covered in blood with his head severely injured. He said that he was beaten up after he stopped the cars of Danish’s guards who he said were trying to cross a road illegally.      Full news...

TruthDig: “The Kite Runner,” Khaled Hosseini’s 2003 novel, featured a pivotal and highly controversial scene in which one of the young male protagonists is raped by an older youth. That harrowing section of the best-selling book highlighted the rampant sexual abuse of children in Afghanistan. Now, a revelation—even more horrifying—has implicated real-life U.S. soldiers serving in that country.      Full news...

RAWA News: The ousting of the Taliban regime and the establishment of a new government in 2001 brought with it a hope for the emergence of a truly just and democratic society. Many were hopeful that the warlords would go behind bars for the atrocities they had committed during the 1990s. On the contrary, they were reinforced during the Karzai’s administration. Regional warlords and power brokers such as Atta Noor in the North, Sherzai in the South and then East and Ismail Khan in the West of the country, turned the country into fiefdoms and often defied the presidential decrees if they were against their personal interests.      Full news...

RAWA.org: Every nation in the world celebrates the people who have contributed constructively to their respective countries. This contribution can be in the fields of education, science, literature, peace, economy or any other field of life that is of benefit to the citizens of the country. These celebrated people are often called the Heroes of Nation.      Full news...

Hambastagi.org (Translated by RAWA): Every year on 9th September, the death anniversary of Massoud, the people of Kabul experience barbarism of the factional kind (reference to factional infighting during the 1992-1996 civil war and the commission of horrendous crimes during that time). A group of reckless men belonging to Shorae Nizar roamed the whole city wildly, spreading terror, and causing disturbance and concern among the residents of Kabul.      Full news...

IRIN: When 30 Kalashnikov-toting men came to Mohammad Miakhil’s house demanding he donate a large sum of money and three tonnes of wheat to their Afghan government-aligned militia, he knew it was time to leave. “They gave us two hours to pay,” said Miakhil. “If not, they would set our house on fire and kill my family.” Miakhil could not afford to hand over such a large portion of his harvest and 120,000 afghanis (about 1,000 USD), so his family joined the exodus from Khanabad, a district in northern Kunduz province...      Full news...

1TV: An Afghan man and a woman received 100 lashes each after they were found guilty of committing adultery in western Ghor province. The punishment was given in public on Monday and after they were found guilty in a primary court. Judges said that the punishment was based on Sharia laws and that the man and woman confessed that they had sexual relations.      Full news...

PAN: Relatives of the two persons killed by bodyguards of the Western Zone Ulema Council chief on Saturday staged a protest demonstration against the council chief, Maulvi Khudadad Saleh. Yesterday at about 8:30pm, a civilian car crashed into a vehicle carrying bodyguards of Saleh as part of his convoy, prompting the guards to open fire at the civilian car, killing two occupants.      Full news...

The Express Tribune: A US raid this week on an illegal weapons cache allegedly belonging to former jihadi leader Jan Mohammad – a close ally of Afghan Chief Executive Dr Abdullah Abdullah – has exposed the dangerous presence of warlords in the conflict-ridden country. Since American fighter jets blew up the arms depot at Charikar, the capital of Parwan province on June 29, Afghans have been seeking an explanation as to why pro-government warlords have stored such huge caches of arms, especially in the north when the country has nearly 350,000 security personnel.      Full news...

TOLOnews.com: Police in northwestern Faryab has detained a former provincial council member accused of killings and supplying arms and ammunition to the Taliban. Angar Tokhi was arrested from his neighbor’s house, chief of Faryab criminal investigation department told TOLOnews. “Angar Tokhi is accused of murders in Almar district,” he said. “Tokhi has also been accused of handing over arms to the insurgents.”      Full news...

The Killid Group: Many hundreds of people have been armed along the border, and their numbers are growing. The police commander of Kunduz has posted a video on a social network site of armed men in national dress saying they would soon recapture the Gultapa area from the government’s opponents. While local authorities are all for the strategy, there are serious misgivings among people.      Full news...

TOLOnews.com: The commander of an armed group in Farah has been accused of the kidnap, rape and torture of a 17-year-old boy, said the Afghanistan Human Rights Organization on Thursday. According to the human rights group, the boy was allegedly kidnapped in Farah province by Hamid Bakhto, a relative of the provincial council head.      Full news...

The Washington Post: A massive portrait of a middle-aged man towers over the Ferris wheel and giant mushrooms at an amusement park here. At night, the image is bathed in an ethereal light, visible from a quarter-mile away. His admirers call him “Ustad,” or “Teacher.” His critics call him the King.      Full news...

TOLOnew.com: Hundreds of residents in the Ashtarlay district of Daykundi province embarked on a protest on Tuesday over what they call the presence and harassment of irresponsible armed men. They have as a result called on the National Unity Government (NGU) to deal with the issue‎.      Full news...

PAN: Residents of Khanabad district of northeastern province of Kunduz claimed hundreds of families in their area displaced due to increased insecurity, claiming their houses were looted by illegal armed individuals. Heavy clashes between illegal armed individuals and militants over the past four days left four armed men and eight rebels dead and 20 others wounded.      Full news...

The Killid Group: No government can any longer shut its eyes to the problem of armed groups in the country. They are behind the almost daily crimes in Kunduz, Badakshan, Baghlan, Parwan and Bamyan provinces. Local authorities in Kunduz accuse the Kabul government of supporting the men, some 4,000 in number, who are behind the kidnappings, rape and robberies particularly in the province’s Khan Abad and Dasht-e Archi districts.      Full news...

IWPR: An IWPR investigation has found that Ghor province in western Afghanistan is in the grip of around 40 warlords backed by thousands of paramilitaries. The armed groups they lead are accused of murder, kidnapping, gang rape, theft and drug trafficking, all carried out with impunity. The numerous groups typically range in size from 200 to 1,200 men, giving a total somewhere between 8,000 and 10,000.      Full news...

TOLOnews.com: Two young girls, one 12-years-old and one only three, were abducted and raped in Takhar province in just the past week, local officials have confirmed. The parents of the 12-year-old girl, who live in the Yangi Qala district, said their daughter was abducted by armed men late at night six days ago, then taken somewhere and raped.      Full news...

Khaama Press: The family of a gang-rape victim has called on President Mohammad Ashraf Ghani to ensure the perpetrators are tried as they face death threats from the armed gang. The woman was gang-raped a group of eight men in northeastern Badakhshan province of Afghanistan five years ago, Tolo News reported on Monday.      Full news...