A young Afghan golfer tees off during the Kabul Desert Classic golf competition at the Kabul Golf Course on the outskirts of Kabul, Afghanistan's only golf course, 19 October 2007. The tournament which has been held for three years in a row, raises money for charities in Afghanistan.

阿富汗一名年輕高爾夫球選手10月19日正在位於喀布爾郊區高球場舉行的喀布爾沙漠菁英高球賽中揮桿，這也是阿富汗唯一的高爾夫球場。這項比賽已連續舉辦三年，主要是為阿富汗籌募善款。

Golf fell prey to the edicts of the extreme Taliban government and was banned, along with television, music and kite flying. The ban was lifted with the toppling of the Tal-iban regime in 2001. Mohammad Afzal Abdul, 50, was arrested twice for playing golf: once in the early 1980s after the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan, and then again by the hardliner Taliban government more than 10 years later. He was accused of working with foreigners and spy-ing.

在神學士政府極權統治下，高爾夫球和電視、音樂及放風箏都被勒令禁止，直到神學士政權於2001年垮台，禁令才取消。50歲的阿布都爾曾兩度因打高爾夫球被捕：一次是在前蘇聯於1980年代初占領阿富汗之後，十餘年後又被強硬派的神學士政權逮捕。他被控和外國人合作及間諜罪。

Some suggested that the 3rd Desert Classic might be the last with the country's fragile and increasingly corrupt government facing rising Taliban violence, a spiraling drugs e-conomy and growing uncertainty over the future military commitment of NATO nations.

有人認為，第三屆喀布爾菁英高球賽可能又成絕響，因為神學士暴力升高，阿富汗政府搖搖欲墜而且日益貪腐，加上毒品交易日愈猖獗，及北約各國未來軍事承諾不確定性增加。