Afghan poets tackle scars of war -- BBC

The violence in Afghanistan and the Pashtun-inhabited parts of Pakistan is making itself felt on the cultural and social life of the Pashtuns.

Pashtuns (also known as Pathans, Pakhtuns or Afghans) are increasingly writing poems about the "ill fate" of their nation and the new dynamics of violence in their homeland.

It is powerful language, and reflects a strong poetic tradition in a culture that is evolving with the times. "That is why Pashto poets are writing about violence in one way or another."

Pashtuns are famous for their proud warrior tradition, but suicide attacks have never been part of it. The first suicide attack in Afghanistan, by Arabs, occurred in 2001 but the tactic remained rare until 2005. Poetry and pain