HERAT - Multicoloured pencils, hanging from branches like leaves, formed the creative set-piece during an Afghanistan-wide poetry competition that drew hundreds of poetry aficionados from across the country to the western province of Herat for a celebration of Afghan literature.

NEW YORK - The Secretary-General condemns the series of lethal attacks – including today’s suicide bombing at a campaign rally in Nangarhar Province, on candidates, their affiliates and their supporters – in Afghanistan in the run up to the October parliamentary elections.

LAL WA SARJANGAL - Government officials, religious scholars, activists and other community leaders in a remote district of Ghor gathered at a UN-backed symposium to strategize on ways to promote social cohesion, both locally and nationally, in the interest of advancing peace.

JALALABAD - A UN-backed peace initiative has helped ease a longstanding land dispute in Nangarhar, demonstrating the power of local communities to determine their fate through dialogue, even against the backdrop of the broader conflict playing out across the country.

KABUL - The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) expresses its concern about the rising number of civilian casualties from airstrikes this year in Afghanistan, with credible reports of the latest incident occurring late Saturday in Kapisa province.