Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: December 2011

Rescuers find 13 on island off East Java

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Sydney Morning Herald, 19 December 2011 A report about the latest case of an under-reported story: the often fatal attempts of Afghan and other refugees to reach a life of freedom in Australia, using ramshackle boats departing from Indonesia..

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Licensed Banditry in Helmand: Armed employees of local security firms accused of robbery and worse

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IWPR, 19 December 2011 In Helmand, people interviewed say they were tired of the men working for commercially-run security firms who were making their lives a misery because they ‘seemed to be above the law’. In return, PSC owners accuse local officials of forcing bribes out of them.

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Ministry of Education reacts to “The Battle for the Schools”

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education has issued an official statement in Dari in response to AAN’s latest report “The Battle for the Schools”, in which it refutes all substance of the report, calls its findings fabricated and assures the great Afghan nation of its tireless efforts and the impeccable Islamic credentials of its curriculum. The full […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

America’s mini-city on the Tigris

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Al Jazeera, 16 December 2011 What leaving looks like: The new billion-dollar US Embassy in Baghdad will house up to 17,000 employees (now 8,000); a $1.5 dollar contract to secure the diplomatic staff in 2012 is awarded to Triple Canopy; and a $1 billion programme to train the Iraqi police (in 2011 just 12% of […]

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An Address for the Taleban in Qatar

Thomas Ruttig •

The much heralded Taleban office in a third country seems finally about to be opened. The news that this will happen in Qatar, broken by an Indian newspaper on Wednesday* and picked up by Kabul-based Tolo TV a day later, was followed by President Karzai calling back his ambassador in Doha ‘for consultations’ claiming that […]

War and Peace Read more

Melons: Afghan riches at the surface level

Fabrizio Foschini •

Winter chills are slowly creeping into our sunny Kabul existences. There are few comforts for this, and one is certainly fruit. In this season, oranges, guavas and, above all, pomegranates do a lot to assuage our troubles. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini and Gran Hewad have also been finding solace in the memory of the bountiful melon […]

Context and Culture Read more

13 December: New AAN Report about the Taleban and State Education

AAN • admin •

The new AAN report ‘The Battle for Education: The Taleban and State Education’ by authors Antonio Giustozzi and Claudio Franco looks at the Taleban’s changing attitude towards state education. In the last two years, the Taleban have increasingly allowed schools to operate in areas under their control or influence, but this has come at a […]

Events Read more

Report on ‘more peaceful’ Afghanistan doesn’t tell the whole story

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Globe and Mail, 13 December 2011 NATO media officers in Afghanistan ‘have gotten very excited on Twitter about an article posted Monday on the website of Foreign Policy magazine’, writes Graeme Smith, that ‘pulls together what sounds like a rational case for optimism after a decade of war in Afghanistan, compiling all kinds of data […]

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Life on the Frontline (1): Travelling on Wardak’s Roads: ’We feel we are dead’

AAN Team •

In a new occasional series of blogs AAN will be looking at what it is like to live in areas contested by Taleban and the Afghan government/US forces. In this first contribution, a reporter from Wardak who asked not to be named, spoke to men from Jaghatu district about travelling on the province’s roads. How […]

War and Peace Read more

US Leaving Iraqi Comrades-in-Arms in Limbo

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New York Times, 13 December 2011 What leaving looks like: The Iraqi government wants the US-supported Sunni Awakening militias to disband by 31 December, now that the US is leaving,but it is doubtful that most of them will give up their weapons. An estimated 50-80,000 are still organised in irregular tribally-based units.

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The Battle for Schools: The Taleban and State Education

Antonio Giustozzi • Claudio Franco •

This new AAN report by authors Antonio Giustozzi and Claudio Franco looks at the Taleban’s changing attitude towards state education. In the last two years, the Taleban have increasingly allowed schools to operate in areas under their control or influence, but this has come at a price – a more conservative curriculum and more mullahs […]

Special Reports Read more

US cuts put British-backed Afghan hydropower project in doubt

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Guardian, 12 December 2011 Jon Boone reports about further possible set-backs for one of the signature infrastructure projects in southern Afghanistan.

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