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An Australian aid worker, kidnapped in Afghanistan in November, has been released.

Najib Danish, the deputy spokesman for the Afghan Ministry of Interior, confirmed that the woman was released in Kabul Monday.

Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade issued a statement confirming the release. "We thank the authorities in Afghanistan for their support and assistance," the statement said.

"Her family welcomes her safe return and asks that the media respect their privacy at this time," it added.

The woman was kidnapped at gunpoint in one of Kabuls upscale neighborhoods.

Neither the Australian embassy, nor anyone in the Afghan government has provided any information on how and why the woman was released.

Kidnappings, mostly for ransom, are considered one of the biggest risks for foreigners working in the country. Criminal gangs often kidnap people and sometimes sell them to insurgent groups like the Taliban.

Another Australian, a professor at the American University of Afghanistan, remains a hostage, along with an American colleague. Both were seized last August in Kabul.

In January, the two appeared in a video begging the American government to negotiate with their captors. The video was the first sign that the two were alive.

Another Australian aid worker was rescued last August by Afghan special forces.

Similarly, an Indian aid worker from the Aga Khan Foundation was kidnapped in Kabul last June.

While foreigners are a prime target, wealthy Afghans also face the risk of kidnapping. The Afghan Taliban also sometimes kidnap people using illegal check points.

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Australian Aid Worker Released in Afghanistan - Voice of America

KABULl // Having withstood time, the elements, looters and war, a spectacular Buddha restored and removed from one of Afghanistans most dangerous regions is to make its public debut in the countrys national museum.

The statue, which depicts the sage in a purple shroud offering his hands to the heavens, had been hidden beneath layers of soil and silt since some time between the third and fifth centuries, according to the archeologists who discovered it.

The exceptionally well-preserved piece, with its colours still vibrant, was found in 2012 at the Mes Aynak site about 40 kilometres southeast of Kabul, in the now Taliban-held Logar province.

Its discovery was made possible after a Chinese consortium began digging a copper mine that uncovered an ancient monastery complex stretching out over an area of four square kilometres.

"The statue was almost whole when it was discovered, with its head present, which is rare," said Ermano Carbonara, an Italian restoration expert. "It was placed in the centre of a niche, which itself had been decorated with painted flowers, in the heart of a great centre of (an area used for) prayer.

"It was better to remove it from the site to protect it," he added.

The clay used in the sculpture was taken from the Mes Aynak river and is particularly sensitive to moisture.

"A night of rain could destroy it," said Mr Carbonara, adding the details of the face, the black curls of the Buddhas bun, its pink cheeks and deep blue eyes pointed to a "truly sophisticated technique" of craftmanship.

A lust for looting in a country wracked by violence for the past four decades left Mr Carbonara with little choice: the Buddhas head, its most valued part on the black market, had already rolled to the ground either the result of an unfortunate strike of an excavators spade, or the first attempt at plundering.

"We find plenty of headless statues. If wed left it be, its head wouldnt have lasted a long time," said Julio Bendezu, director of Dafa, the French government archaeological mission in Afghanistan.

Once in Kabul, a team of Italian, French and Afghan workers re-attached the head and placed the Buddha back in the recess, along with one of two accompanying characters, who appear to be either monks or patrons. The second is already in the museum and will also be returned to its original place.

"Often, those who financed the construction of the statue and its housing wanted themselves represented by its side," explained Mr Bendezu.

The restoration also allowed experts to study the statues inner structure of straw and wood, revealing a Greek influence brought by Alexander the Great when his armies swept through the region around 330 BC.

The Buddha left DAFAs workshops earlier this week under military escort and was brought to the National Museum of Afghanistan in preparation for its public unveiling.

A vast room has been dedicated to the excavation and treasures of Mes Aynak, testifying to the pre-Islamic past of Afghanistan.

* Agence France-Presse

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Afghanistan museum unveils restored ancient Buddha - The National

Asia & Pacific

10:50 17.03.2017(updated 10:51 17.03.2017) Get short URL

BAKU (Sputnik) Azerbaijan has always played an important role inrestoring peace and stability inAfghanistan, Afghan Deputy Foreign Minister Hekmat Khalil Karzai said Friday inBaku ata session ofthe Heart ofAsia Istanbul Process regional conference.

"Azerbaijan plays a vital role inrestoring peace and stability inAfghanistan. As one ofthe key countries inthe Heart ofAsia format ofIstanbul Process and Afghanistan's close partner, Azerbaijan has supported this process and continues toplay an essential role inefforts related todifferent spheres," Karzai said.

The deputy foreign minister expressed hope that the next session ofthe Heart ofAsia Istanbul Process conference, planned totake place atthe level offoreign ministers inBaku soon, will have positive results interms ofrestoring Afghanistan's infrastructure and further efforts concerning peacekeeping.

Afghanistan is ina state ofpolitical and social turmoil, withgovernment forces fighting the continuing Taliban insurgency. The instability has persisted inthe country sincethe 2001 US-led invasion todefeat the Taliban and al-Qaeda inthe wake ofthe 9/11 attacks inthe United States.

The lack ofcontrol and instability turned the country intohome tothe largest opium poppy production and distribution network inthe world.

The rest is here:
'Azerbaijan Plays Vital Role in Restoring Peace, Stability in Afghanistan' - Sputnik International

While India debates on the nuances of feminism and the distinctions between a feminist and a feminazi and the various meanings of women empowerment and human rights, let us find out what it means for an ordinary woman in Afghanistan who is not even allowed to move outside her home in most situations.

Im here so that I can learn something, so that I can serve my village and country, says Abida. Im really proud to be able to do this. I make efforts to study as hard as I possibly can.

Abida Nowroz, a native of Jalalabad, is training to be a nurse in a country where womens rights have little space in the patriarchal scheme of things. However, she is determined to change the situation in the repressive society.

Her small effort is actually a storm in an ocean, keeping in mind her social context. She comes from a place where traditionally women have been restricted to the home and are prevented from venturing outside.

I dont waste even a single day without any kind of learning, explains Abida.

Globally, Afghanistan has extremely high infant and maternal mortality rates- in fact, one of the highest in the world. There is utter absence of healthcare facilities, particularly in rural areas. Together with a paucity of female health workers, the situation means that several Afghan women fail to receive basic healthcare that they desperately need.

I do not want to see mothers die on their way to clinics and healthcare centres, or see their children become orphans, explains Abida.

Abida will graduate from the training school in 2017 and will work in the poorest villages of her province in Afghanistan. But she is not alone in her efforts to change the situation of women in Afghanistan. She has 200 other colleagues- all fired by the same passion to serve their society and ensure womens rights.

The Jalalabad nursing school is one among six spread across the country and will be training more than 200 nurses every year. They have been set up by the ministry of public health of Afghanistan and supported by the UNDP. The objective of the nursing centre is to raise a new generation of female health workers.

Abida is part of the first batch of graduates who would bring desperately needed healthcare to women in the remotest of areas and reach cut-off communities.

Throughout history and particularly during the Taliban rule in the last decade of the 20thcentury, women were a repressed lot. The Taliban prohibited them from going to work and decreed they could not leave their homes until they were accompanied by a male family member. And when they did go out they were ordered to wear a head to toe all-cover burqa.

Women continue to struggle for basic freedoms and independence in a society that is chiefly male dominated. Violence against women is high in Afghanistan but things are changing for the better as the country slowly makes its way to progress.

Also read:India needs to side with Afghanistan to isolate Pakistan

See the rest here:
How a woman in Afghanistan is fighting the Taliban - DailyO

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About 60 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard's185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will return to Des Moines on Saturday from deployment in Afghanistan.

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The Des Moines Register 10:36 a.m. CT March 15, 2017

Troy May, a member of the 185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion of the Iowa Army National Guard, hugs one of his daughters, Alex May, during a send-off ceremony for the battalion May 8, 2016, at the Iowa National Guard's Des Moines Airbase. (Photo: Register file photo)Buy Photo

About 60 soldiers from the Iowa National Guard's185th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion will return to Des Moines on Saturday from deployment in Afghanistan.

The Guard will host a homecoming ceremony at 3 p.m. at its Des Moines Airbase, 3100 McKinley Ave.

The battaliondeparted Iowa in May 2016 for trainingat Fort Hood, Texas, before deploying to Afghanistan. The unit was based at Bagram Airfield, where provided logistical support.

The 185th CSSB is based at Camp Dodge in Johnston.The unitlast deployed in 2010-11to Afghanistanand in 2003-04 to Iraq.

Those wanting to attend the homecoming ceremony canenter the Des Moines Airbase through the main gate at 3100 McKinley Ave.Photo identification is required for anyone 16 or older.

Read or Share this story: http://dmreg.co/2mJuwPF

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Iowa Guard soldiers returning from Afghanistan - DesMoinesRegister.com