Criminal element

Afghanistan | Kidnapping for pay is a growing line of work in a corrupt and donor-dependent war zone | Jill Nelson

Allauddin Khan/AP

Lima Sahar is a reminder of how much has changed in Afghanistan since the fall of the Taliban in 2001. With her brightly colored headscarf tied neatly under her chin, she graced the stage of Afghanistan's version of American Idol as one of the top three contestants. Sahar is the first female to advance to the finals during the season's three-year run—a worthy accomplishment considering that only a few years ago women were not allowed to leave their homes without an escort, and television and music were banned.

But off-stage is another side of Afghanistan that threatens to force locals back into the shadows. Even as NATO pledges more troops to the mission, corruption remains a rampant problem, and kidnappings of Afghans for ransom are on the rise. While abductions of foreigners have captured media attention, local kidnappings have been largely ignored or underreported, and some say the country's security forces have done little to curb this growing trend.