The Latest Breaking News from Afghanistan

Veteran foreign correspondent and broadcaster who reported from all over the world for 60 years

Hajjar Shademani's family waited for hours in the heat and dust after crossing the border into Afghanistan, their neat pile of suitcases all that remained of a lifetime in Iran after being deported to their homeland.

More than 230,000 Afghans left Iran in June, most of them deported, as returns surge ahead of a deadline set by Tehran, the United Nations migration agency said on Monday.

Against a backdrop of ongoing international isolation, Afghanistan is quietly emerging as an unlikely destination for adventurous tourists, with visitors arriving by diverse means, from planes and motorbikes to camper vans and even bicycles. Solo travellers and organised tour groups are gradually venturing into a country that, until recently, was…