Southeastern Afghanistan, a historic trade hub on the Kabul–Kandahar corridor
Abdul Ahad Momand, Afghanistan’s first and only astronaut, has died of cancer in Stuttgart, Germany, on June 21. Born in Ghazni, he flew on the Mir space station in 1988 as part of a Soviet-led mission and later lived in exile. His legacy is marked by a historic spaceflight that connected Afghanistan with the wider cosmos.