U.S. intelligence agencies thought the Afghan military would last longer and predicted Kyiv would fall faster, showing the difficulty of assessing fighting spirit.
Along a lonely stretch of what was once the most dangerous road in Afghanistan, everyone slows down when they reach Hafiz Qadim’s mud brick shop. It’s not the food. Or the gas. It’s the big hole.
The reversal of the plan to reopen high schools this week could threaten aid at a critical time, as international officials had made girls’ education a condition for greater assistance.