Accessibility links
Quil Lawrence Quil Lawrence is a New York-based correspondent for NPR News, covering veterans' issues nationwide.
Quil Lawrence square
Stories By

Quil Lawrence

The Taliban's Likely Negotiator With The U.S.

Tayyeb Agha at a Taliban press conference in November 2001 in Kandahar, Afghanistan. Patrick Aventurier/Gamma/Getty hide caption

toggle caption
Patrick Aventurier/Gamma/Getty

World

The Taliban's Likely Negotiator With The U.S.

Most observers in Kabul now believe the U.S. has met face to face with a Taliban envoy, and the most likely interlocutor is Tayyeb Agha. He's thought to be one of a few people with regular access to Taliban leader Mullah Omar.

The Taliban's Likely Negotiator With The U.S.

Listen · 3:58
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/138577917/138620230" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">

World

Adviser To Afghan President Killed In Attack

In Afghanistan, a close adviser to President Hamid Karzai has been killed. It was the second killing in recent days of one of Karzai's allies. Last week, Karzia's half-brother was killed in the southern city of Kandahar.

Adviser To Afghan President Killed In Attack

Listen · 3:58
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/138462436/138462465" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
U.S. Quietly Halts Scholarship For Afghan Students

Former President George W. Bush speaks to student from the Youth Exchange and Study program at the White House in 2005. The program began in 2004 and ended for Afghan students this year after half of those enrolled fled to Canada. Alex Wong/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Alex Wong/Getty Images

World

U.S. Quietly Halts Scholarship For Afghan Students

The program sent Afghan students to U.S. high schools for a year, but many fled to Canada seeking asylum and fearing a dark future in Afghanistan. One student who left Texas for Toronto said his family received threats for sending their son to the West and thought he'd be in danger if he returned.

U.S. Quietly Halts Scholarship For Afghan Students

Listen · 6:10
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137648917/137858510" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Poppy Crops Set To Bloom If Afghanistan Aid Withers

An Afghan holds a bouquet of poppies near the city of Kandahar, Afghanistan. Majid Saeedi/Getty Images hide caption

toggle caption
Majid Saeedi/Getty Images

World

Poppy Crops Set To Bloom If Afghanistan Aid Withers

Afghanistan produces most of the world's opium poppy. As foreign aid money starts to shrink, the drug money may overwhelm attempts at a legitimate economy.

Poppy Crops Set To Bloom If Afghanistan Aid Withers

Listen · 3:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137678642/137800185" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Asia

President Karzai's Brother Shot Dead

One of the most powerful figures in the Afghan government has been assassinated. Ahmed Wali Karzai, brother of the president, was shot dead, apparently by one of his own security men in the southern city of Kandahar where he headed the provincial council.

President Karzai's Brother Shot Dead

Listen · 2:46
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137799680/137800021" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Karzai's Half-Brother Assassinated In Kandahar

In Afghanistan, the half-brother of President Hamid Karzai was assassinated at his home in the southern part of the country, in the city of Kandahar Tuesday. Ahmed Wali Karzai was repeatedly accused of corruption and of having links to drug trafficking, yet the Afghan president continued to defend him.

Karzai's Half-Brother Assassinated In Kandahar

Listen · 3:56
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137784161/137783947" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Election Dispute Deadlocks Afghan Government

Afghan parliamentarians are struggling to hold a unified line against what they see as an unconstitutional push by President Karzai to overturn 25 percent of last September's parliamentary elections. The continuing deadlock has tarnished all sides and exposed the fragility of Afghan democracy.

Election Dispute Deadlocks Afghan Government

Listen · 3:59
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137642315/137642306" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Taliban Claim Responsibility For Afghan Hotel Attack

The Afghan capital Kabul is still reeling from an attack on the Inter-Continental Hotel early Wednesday. NATO helicopters helped to end the standoff which lasted for nearly five hours.

Taliban Claim Responsibility For Afghan Hotel Attack

Listen · 3:47
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137491241/137491253" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

Militants Strike Iconic Kabul Hotel

Militants struck the Inter-Continental hotel, killing at least seven people and wounding at least eight others in a more than five-hour attack that ended when NATO helicopters killed gunmen on the roof of the hotel. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack.

Militants Strike Iconic Kabul Hotel

Listen · 3:42
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137487124/137487122" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Head Of Kabul Bank Resigns While In The U.S.

Now, another twist in the story of Kabul Bank and the $900 million bailout of what was Afghanistan's premier lending institution: The head of Afghanistan's central bank has resigned while on a visit to the U.S., claiming that the government of President Hamid Karzai was not only thwarting his investigation into the failed bank, but that he was being threatened by politically connected shareholders.

Head Of Kabul Bank Resigns While In The U.S.

Listen · 3:31
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137480098/137480087" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Fraud Ruling Throws Afghan Parliament Into Disarray

Defeated candidates from Afghanistan's September 2010 election wait for the resumption of proceedings of a special tribunal in a Kabul courtroom on Thursday. The tribunal decided that 62 members of Parliament would be replaced on fraud charges. Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP hide caption

toggle caption
Gemunu Amarasinghe/AP

World

Fraud Ruling Throws Afghan Parliament Into Disarray

A tribunal appointed by Afghan President Hamid Karzai has decided that 62 members of Parliament will be replaced on fraud charges. Some candidates who said they had been robbed of their seats claimed victory, but there's controversy over whether Karzai had the authority to create the tribunal.

Fraud Ruling Throws Afghan Parliament Into Disarray

Listen · 3:37
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137457854/137466504" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

Afghans Divided On When U.S. Troops Should Leave

President Obama has told the nation that he's pulling 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by next summer. About 10,000 of those troops will be withdrawn by the end of the year. How was the announcement received in the Afghan capital Kabul?

Afghans Divided On When U.S. Troops Should Leave

Listen · 3:38
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137360742/137360732" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript
Afghan City May Be Test Case For U.S. Withdrawal

Gulab Mangal, the governor of Afghanistan's southern Helmand province, says his security forces are ready to take control in the provincial capital of Lashkar Gah. Quil Lawrence/NPR hide caption

toggle caption
Quil Lawrence/NPR

World

Afghan City May Be Test Case For U.S. Withdrawal

Afghan security forces are preparing to take formal control of seven locations across the country. One of them is the capital of volatile Helmand province. Some residents are happy to see Afghan forces taking the lead, but they're also worried about what will happen when the American troops leave.

Afghan City May Be Test Case For U.S. Withdrawal

Listen · 4:00
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137292306/137292299" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

U.S. Envoy Blasts Afghan Leader's Comments

The U.S. ambassador in Afghanistan, Karl Eikenberry, did something unusual. He publicly lashed out at Afghan President Hamid Karzai in a speech to students at Herat University.

U.S. Envoy Blasts Afghan Leader's Comments

Listen · 3:51
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137285039/137285034" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript

World

U.N.: May Deadliest For Civilians In Afghan War

As the summer fighting season begins, civilian deaths are outstripping military casualties in the country. The United Nations reported this weekend that May 2011 was the deadliest for civilians since the war began.

U.N.: May Deadliest For Civilians In Afghan War

Listen · 3:37
  • Download
  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/137135029/137135018" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
  • Transcript