IWPR: Rights groups in central Afghanistan have raised concerns about a rising tide of violence against women in this part of the country. About 100 people, mainly women, met in the town of Bamyan on September 28 to quiz local officials and rights organisations on what action they were taking against a rising tide of violence against women in this part of Afghanistan.      Full news...

PAN: A spacious ancient stone room has been discovered in the Araban area of Jalrez district in central Maidan Wardak province, officials said on Thursday. Locals initially noticed a small hole in a mountain where they were quarrying stones, Attaullah Khogyani, the governor’s spokesman, told Pajhwok Afghan News.      Full news...

PAN: Increasing rocket and magnetic bomb attacks have worried Kabul residents, who believe lack of deterrence and coordination among security forces allows such assaults. This last week saw six magnetic bombs exploding and as many rockets landing in the heavily-fortified central capital, leaving four people dead and 16 others wounded.      Full news...

The Huffington Post: Anti-war campaigners said the UK’s mission in Afghanistan had failed and had left a legacy of tens of thousands of civilian deaths as well as a series of unanswered questions. British troops today handed Camp Bastion over to Afghan forces - bringing to an end their bloody campaign in Helmand province - by lowering the Union Jack for the last time.      Full news...

Khaama Press: An Afghan woman named Zahra ran away with a young man after her father forced her to marry a 65-year-old villager. She and her lover were caught after almost two years and both were jailed for adultery. Adultery is prohibited in Islam and Afghanistan is a country with 99% people.      Full news...

International Business Times: The Obama Administration has been given a December deadline to explain why it has withheld more than 2,000 graphic images depicting Iraqi and Afghanistan detainees being tortured by the US military. A federal judge has ordered the US government to explain, one photograph at a time, why it blocked the images from being released to the public.      Full news...

Reuters: Opium poppy cultivation in Afghanistan has hit an all-time high despite years of counter-narcotics efforts that have cost the US 7.6bn USD (4.7bn GBP), according to a US government watchdog. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime reported that Afghan farmers grew an “unprecedented” 209,000 hectares (523,000 acres) of opium poppy in 2013, surpassing the previous high of 193,000 hectares in 2007, said John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction.      Full news...

The Killid Group: While the process of disarming local commanders has stretched over six years little has changed on the ground in Kunduz, Ghazni and Bamyan. Locals complain of harassment and extortion at the hands of armed gunmen - both individuals and members of the Afghan Local Police (ALP).      Full news...

Stars and Stripes: Mohammad Wazir is 12. Or maybe 13. He doesn’t know for sure. One thing is certain: Growing up in rural Helmand province, Mohammad has seen more war than anyone should, let alone a young boy.      Full news...

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism: Afghanistan is the most drone bombed country in the world. The US has been using its Predator and Reaper drones to kill people in Afghanistan since November 2001. Research by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism, featured this week in a report by the Remote Control project, has found more than 1,000 drone attacks hit the country from the start of 2008 to the end of October 2012.      Full news...

Cicero Magazine: The correspondence between the chief of the US watchdog on Afghanistan reconstruction and the administrator of the UN’s development agency over a trust fund bankrolling the Afghan police force is an entertaining read. In a series of letters, John Sopko, special inspector general, alleged that the UN agency mismanaged the trust fund, known as LOTFA, allowing the Afghan interior ministry to milk 200 million USD in “deductions.”      Full news...

Hambastagi.org (Translated by RAWA): The Solidarity Party of Afghanistan (SPA) denounced the thirteenth anniversary of the occupation of Afghanistan by the US and NATO in a demonstration in Kabul. This was also in defense of the resistance of the people of Kobani, especially its female fighters.      Full news...

The Killid Group: A non-governmental group, New Afghanistan Women Association (NAWA), says crimes against women and children have increased because of continued official indifference and a law enforcement system that looks the other way to help the perpetrators. NAWA’s new research in six provinces – Kunduz, Jowzjan, Herat, Balkh, Takhar and Sar-i-Pul – shows a 30 percent increase in rape cases. Shafiqa Habibi, director of the non-governmental women’s group, says in most cases the abusers were “powerful individuals, commanders and irresponsible gunmen” or the relatives of the victims. “They don’t fear punishment.”      Full news...

NPR: No country grows as many opium poppies or produces as much illicit opium as Afghanistan. In 2013, opium production soared to a record high of 5,500 tons, according to the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. A study published last week adds to a growing body of research showing that Afghanistan also has a high rate of drug usage — about 5.1 percent, or 1 in 20 people. Opioids and cannabis were the most popular.      Full news...

The Chronicle Herald: With the eyes of the world focused on the brutal violence of ISIS in Syria and Iraq, and the power play of international brinkmanship in eastern Ukraine, the recent dramatic developments in Afghanistan have been given rather short shrift in the western media.      Full news...