Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: March 2012

The Many Owners of Ashab Baba: Land conflict at the Ainak copper mine

Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

So far, after the (re-)discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, interest has concentrated on the macro-level – how to access and to market it, who won the tenders (and why not American companies*) – or on the cultural heritage aspect, how the Buddhist relics found at the Ainak copper mine can be protected. Now, micro conflicts […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Releasing the Guantanamo Five? 1: Biographies of the Prisoners (amended)

Kate Clark •

Releasing Taleban from Guantanamo Bay is on the agenda – in the context of finding a negotiated end to the conflict. Four senior and one junior Taleban official may be freed, or exchanged for the captured US soldier, Bowe Bergdahl. The idea has caused consternation among some in the US Congress, as well as consternation […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Women’s Day in Afghanistan: Where the ‘Personal is still Political’

Sari Kouvo •

International Women’s Day is a good opportunity to reflect on the legal advances made by Afghan women over the past decade and what challenges remain to turn laws on paper into reality. It is particularly needed after the President’s endorsement of the recent Ulama Council statement that, among a number of other points, addresses Afghan […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Afghan Air Force Probed in Drug Running

admin •

Wall Street Journal, 7 March 2012 And one more report on corruption: ‘The U.S. is investigating allegations that some officials in the Afghan Air Force, which was established largely with American funds, have been using aircraft to ferry narcotics and illegal weapons around the country […]. An AAF spokesman, Lt. Col. Mohammed Bahadur, denied the […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Intractable Afghan Graft Hampering U.S. Strategy

admin •

New York Times, 7 March 2012 An update on the KabulBank scandal and a rendering of a fascinating ‘new’ corruption case, involving Afghan Army’s former surgeon general, Gen. Ahmad Zia Yaftali ‘suspended in December 2010 after Gen. David H. Petraeus, then the coalition commander, told Mr. Karzai that NATO investigators had found that the Afghan […]

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Parliament Completes the Cabinet – after two years

Fabrizio Foschini •

Taking most observers by surprise, the Wolesi Jirga has passed a very long-waited vote of confidence and approved all nine ministers put forward by the president today. It has been more than two years since the current government was formed, but all portfolios are now duly occupied by ministers approved by the Parliament, and not […]

Political Landscape Read more

The battle for Kurram

admin •

Friday Times, 2-8 March 2012 The quality Pakistani weekly takes a look at the situation in the Kurram agency after 43 people were killed in a suicide attack outside a mosque in Parachinar in February, on the various Pakistani Taleban splinter groups involved and the role of the Haqqani network in it.

Recommended Reads Read more

All the Khan’s Men: Imran Khan and the Turncoats

admin •

Newsline (Pakistan), 11 February 2012 The Pakistani magazine looks at the politicking behind Pakistani politician and ex-cricketer Imran Khan’s ascent and at the ‘new’ faces joining his movement.

Recommended Reads Read more

Leadership Rift Emerges in Pakistani Taliban

admin •

New York Times, 5 March 2012 The background story on the dismissal of Maulvi Faqir Muhammad as deputy head of the Pakistani Taleban umbrella organisation TTP, on the issue of peace talks with the Pakistani government.

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1 March 2012: Security Arrangements, Transitional Justice, and Peace Mediation: Challenges and Options for the EU

AAN • admin •

This expert and policymaker roundtable organised in Brussels will bring together 15-20 participants from the fields of Security Arrangements and Security Sector Reform; Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration; Transitional Justice; Peace Mediation and EU Foreign Policy. The expert seminar aims to: 1. Present and exchange lessons, findings, dilemmas and difficulties from the experience of promoting accountability and […]

Events Read more

Afghanistan’s ‘Cumulative’ Protests and the West’s Dilemma (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

Afghanistan has seen its largest protests since the fall of the Taleban. For six days in a row, demonstrations protested the burning of copies of the Qur’an at Bagram airbase in about half of the Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. Roads were blocked, ISAF bases stormed and an UN office targeted and there were calls for jihad […]

War and Peace Read more

Taliban seek constitutional role for Mullah Omar

admin •

The Hindu, 1 March 2012 The Hindu’s Praveen Swami who has emerged lately as a well-informed Taleban watcher, usually quoting very well informed Indian diplomats, and this time a European diplomat, too, comes up with another scoop: According to his sources, the Taleban are demanding ‘dramatic constitutional changes which would make Mullah Muhammad Omar Afghanistan’s […]

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