Yaqoob Akbary Journalist Profile

Articles

On Anniversary of Taliban Takeover, Glee, Mourning and an Itch for Jihad

Aug 15, 2024 | nytimes.com | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

The parade of cars rolled through Kabul from morning until night, clogging the streets in end-to-end traffic. Crowds of Taliban and their supporters lined the routes, chanting "God is great!" and "Long live the mujahedeen!" One truck dragged an American flag, a red X drawn across its stars and stripes. Outside the old U.S. embassy, young children - maybe 6 or 7 years old - wearing military fatigues stood on the top of a gray Toyota pickup, clutching small white Taliban flags.
Gunman Kills Three Spanish Tourists in Central Afghanistan

May 17, 2024 | nytimes.com | Yaqoob Akbary |Christina Goldbaum

Three Spanish tourists and one Afghan were killed by a gunman in central Afghanistan on Friday, Taliban officials said, in the first fatal attack on tourists in the country since the Taliban seized power in 2021. Four other foreigners and three Afghans were also injured the shooting in Bamiyan Province, a serene stretch of valleys, lakes and ancient relics northwest of the capital, Kabul.
A father, an earthquake and the desperate search for a missing son

Oct 17, 2023 | nzherald.co.nz | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

Over a week since a major earthquake decimated his village in northwest Afghanistan, Noor Ahmad is on a harrowing hunt to find his 5-year-old. Noor Ahmad didn’t know where else to look. For days after a powerful earthquake levelled his village in Afghanistan, he scoured the district for his family. He dug under the rubble that was once their home. He combed through the trauma rooms in the regional hospital. He searched every body bag at the morgue, twice.
Afghans scared to sleep anywhere but outside after three big earthquakes

Oct 13, 2023 | spokesman.com | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

HERAT, Afghanistan — The fear from a week of unrelenting earthquakes is palpable throughout the northwestern city of Herat in Afghanistan. Makeshift tents made of sticks and sheets have popped up across public parks, alleyways and grassy medians of main roads, the families within them too afraid to sleep in their homes. Men pray in the street instead of at mosques, pleading with God to stop the destruction.
Another powerful quake hits Afghanistan, days after deadly temblors

Oct 12, 2023 | sanjuandailystar.com | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

Guests in the courtyard of the Arg Hotel in Herat City, Afghanistan, after a strong earthquake early Wednesday. By Christina Goldbaum and Yaqoob AkbaryA powerful earthquake struck Herat province in Afghanistan near the border with Iran early Wednesday, several days after two major quakes in the same area killed more than 1,000 people. The magnitude 6.3 temblor struck northwestern Afghanistan at 5:22 a.m. at a depth of about 6 miles, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
‘The wrath of God’: Afghans mourn unimaginable loss from quake

Oct 12, 2023 | japantimes.co.jp | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

Wails echoed across what was left of the village when the ambulance arrived. Inside was the body of a 12-year-old girl, Roqia. She had died in a nearby hospital Tuesday morning, days after a devastating earthquake hit this stretch of northwestern Afghanistan and sent her mud-brick home crashing down on top of her. The vehicle drove to the top of a nearby hill where mounds of dirt marked around 70 freshly dug graves.
Another powerful quake hits Afghanistan, days after deadly temblors

Oct 11, 2023 | bostonglobe.com | Christina Goldbaum |Yaqoob Akbary

A powerful earthquake struck Herat province in Afghanistan near the border with Iran early Wednesday, several days after two major quakes in the same area killed more than 1,000 people. The magnitude 6.3 temblor struck northwestern Afghanistan at 5:22 a.m. at a depth of about 6 miles, according to the US Geological Survey. The epicenter was just outside Herat City, the provincial capital and one of the country’s cultural and economic hubs.
Entire villages razed as death toll soars from quakes in Afghanistan

Oct 10, 2023 | sanjuandailystar.com | Christina Goldbaum |Najim Rahim |Yaqoob Akbary

Waiting for relief on Saturday after an earthquake in Herat. By Christina Goldbaum, Najim Rahim and Yaqoob AkbaryThe death toll from two major earthquakes in northwestern Afghanistan rose to at least 813 people Sunday, according to local authorities, making the dual shocks one of the deadliest natural disasters to hit the country in decades.
Earthquakes in Afghanistan Kill Nearly 200, Officials Say

Oct 7, 2023 | nytimes.com | Yaqoob Akbary |Najim Rahim |Christina Goldbaum |Safiullah Padshah

Two 6.3-magnitude quakes were followed by several large aftershocks, devastating entire villages in the western part of the country. Two 6.3-magnitude earthquakes killed nearly 200 people in western Afghanistan on Saturday, officials said, the second major quake to hit the country in less than two years. At least 180 people were killed and around 600 injured, according to the chief of the regional hospital in Herat Province, where the quake struck hardest.