Free Republic

It used to be only the Taliban who so opposed kite flying that they ordered it banned. The extremist mullahs who ruled Afghanistan believed the sight of skies filled with small, paper kites was somehow un-Islamic. On the day the Taliban finally fled Kabul, the kites returned to the skies of the Afghan capital as a symbol of celebration. Now, to the astonishment of many, the ban has re-emerged in Lahore, the steamy, liberal, cultural heart of Pakistan. Last month, Mian Aamer Mahmood, the head of the city council, ordered a three-month ban on kite flying. Illegal kite flyers, he...

The skies over this eastern Pakastani city were once dotted with brightly colored kites that swooped and looped in intense dogfights. But now the kites have disappeared - at least for three months. Officials imposed a temporary ban to decide the fate of the popular pastime in Lahore, which has been blamed for injuries and even deaths. Some argue that kite flying is un-Islamic, as well. The main worry is from a type of kite string that's designed to cut other kites during aerial combat. The cord is reinforced with metal and sometimes glass powder, making it sharp enough to...

PASCO -- When Pasco High School teacher Carol Brucker heard that kites had been banned in Afghanistan by the now-deposed Taliban, she enlisted the help of her students to return them to the countryside. "When I heard how much the Afghan children loved to play with their kites and that they were taken away from them, it broke my heart," said Brucker, a math teacher and kite enthusiast. More than 600 students here have made 600 kites to be delivered to children in Afghanistan by the Portland-based humanitarian group Mercy Corps. Wednesday, students Kenny Phillips and Eddie Mendez took their...