Wood shavings littered the floor of Sakhi's cramped workshop in the Afghan city of Herat as another rubab, the national musical instrument of his homeland, took shape under his deft hands.

In exile, Afghan musicians struggle to preserve their craft as Pakistan's deportations push them toward the Taliban repression they fled.

Sakhi has crafted two rubabs a month for decades, and he refuses to set down his tools even as a Taliban crackdown strangles music in Afghanistan. “I know only this work and I need to make money ...

Fred Smith, nicknamed 'The Singing Diplomat", who has served in Afghanistan talks about a collection of his songs reflecting his feeling about the situation in Afghanistan and the misery of its people ...

Wood shavings littered the floor of Sakhi's cramped workshop in the Afghan city of Herat as another rubab, the national musical instrument of his homeland, took shape under his deft hands.