Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: October 2011

‘The big hope has been replaced by a big concern’: the Ten Years anniversary in the Afghan Press

Fabrizio Foschini •

In Afghanistan it is always a good time for stock-taking. The ten year anniversary of the US-led intervention on 7 October, though, did offer an unmatched opportunity to do so for many commentators. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini had a look at what the Afghan printed press has been saying on the occasion and what attitudes their […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghanistan mourns Ghazal King Jagjit Singh’s passing and the loss of its own musical excellence

Naheed Esar Malikzay •

On Monday 10 October 2011, Jagjit Singh, a legend of Indian music, passed away in Lilavati hospital in Mumbai. Hearing that heartbreaking news, Afghans have expressed their condolences and sorrows in different ways. After receiving several sympathy messages from friends and relatives, AAN’s Naheed Esar Malikzay reflects on how his music specifically and Indian music, […]

Context and Culture Read more

Analysing ISAF Press Releases – AAN Responds to ISAF’s Response

Martine van Bijlert •

ISAF has taken ‘serious issue’ with AAN’s latest report ‘A Knock on the Door. 22 Months of ISAF Press Releases’ (see full text of the press release below). ISAF argues that the methodology is flawed and based on incomplete information, and it worries that this will ‘confuse serious researchers or those engaged in balanced reporting […]

International Engagement Read more

New AAN Report: A Knock on the Door: 22 Months of ISAF Press Releases

AAN • admin •

ISAF officials have long presented the capture‐or‐kill operations as one of the most effective parts of the military mission in Afghanistan. They regularly release large figures describing the number of ‘leaders’, ‘facilitators’ and ‘insurgents’ that were killed or captured, to illustrate the success of the campaign. AAN’s latest report, by Alex Strick van Linschoten and […]

Events Read more
Afghan women prisoners listen to their teacher in a class in the women's section of the Herat prison on August 16, 2009. AFP PHOTO/BEHROUZ MEHRI (Photo by BEHROUZ MEHRI / AFP)

Mothers behind Bars: What about the Children?

Sari Kouvo •

Growing up with few evident opportunities and with conflict constantly lurking at the door is the reality for most Afghan children and youth. A group that gets more than its fair share of brick walls and violence are the children that grow up with their mothers in prison. AAN’s Sari Kouvo and Naheed Esar Malikzay […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Death of Rabbani (5): Where is the evidence?

Kate Clark •

Three weeks after the killing of Burhanuddin Rabbani, the Afghan authorities appear to have found out astonishingly little about who ordered and carried out this plot. As part of a new tranche of documents and testimony from the investigation, the Afghan intelligence agency, the NDS, has released videoed testimony from Hamidullah, the go-between who introduced […]

War and Peace Read more

A Knock on the Door: 22 Months of ISAF Press Releases

Alex Strick-Van-Linschoten • Felix Kuehn •

ISAF officials have long presented the capture‐or‐kill operations as one of the most effective parts of the military mission in Afghanistan. They regularly release large figures describing the number of ‘leaders’, ‘facilitators’ and ‘insurgents’ that were killed or captured, to illustrate the success of the campaign. AAN’s latest report, by Alex Strick van Linschoten and […]

Special Reports Read more

Nuristan in Fall

Fabrizio Foschini •

After a tough start, Nuristan province has passed the summer without further serious traumas. Still, all the pre-existing concerns about an insurgent takeover of the whole province are still there, just probably postponed to next year depending on the early onset of winter. In order to prevent this from happening, it is high time to […]

Political Landscape Read more

NDS Torture: UN Report Makes Bleak Reading

Kate Clark •

UNAMA has released a major report on torture in National Directorate of Security (NDS) and police detention. For those of us who have worked on war crimes investigations post-1978, it makes desolate reading. The places of torture and many of the methods are familiar from testimony from victims of previous governments, including the Taleban’s. What […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Watershed of Waste: Afghanistan’s Kajaki Dam and USAID

admin •

Global Times, 11 October 2011 Jean MacKenzie reports about the history of the Kajaki dam project in Helmand that was billed as the linchpin of the military effort in that province and Kandahar, intended to deliver power to Kandahar – the story of a failure.

Recommended Reads Read more

Afghan government blocks bribery probe, apparently to avoid prosecutions

admin •

AP, 11 October 2011 Corruption case against former Kapisa governor has been dropped. NATO official adds: most of the approximately 2,000 cases investigated by the anti-corruption unit since its birth in 2009 have stalled; the 28 convictions so far have all been of minor players; the attorney general’s office has been infiltrated by power brokers, […]

Recommended Reads Read more

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