A graduate of the School of Oriental and African Studies (BA Arabic and Persian), Alex Strick van Linschoten first came to Afghanistan six years ago as a tourist. In 2006, he founded AfghanWire.com together with Felix Kuehn. He is currently working on a book and PhD at the War Studies Department of King’s College London on the interactions between Sufi groups and militant jihadi organisations in Iraq, Afghanistan, Chechnya and Somalia, as well as on a history of southern Afghanistan 1970-2001 together with Felix Kuehn.

He has worked as a freelance journalist from Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon and Somalia, writing for Foreign Policy, International Affairs, ABC Nyheter, The Sunday Times (UK), The Globe and Mail (Canada) and The Tablet (UK). He speaks Arabic, Farsi, Pashtu and German and can get by in French and Dutch. He lives permanently in Kandahar, Afghanistan.