MEHTARLAM - Afghans have been urged to do more as citizens including by actively participating in local peace initiatives, development projects, and national political processes by participants of a UN-backed radio programme in the eastern capital city of Laghman.

The Afghan government and the forces of the Taliban have announced that they will each observe a cease-fire over the Muslim Eid holiday this coming weekend. This action is unprecedented in the past 17 years of war.

ASADABAD - Community-level peace efforts in eastern Afghanistan are demonstrating the power of consensus-building, even against the backdrop of the broader conflict playing out across the country, said panellists in a UN-backed programme broadcast out of the provincial capital of