Month: December 2012

Local police an uncertain player in Afghan future

Other AAN •

AFP, 31 December 2012 ‘The Afghan Local Police, branded by some critics as an incompetent Taliban-linked militia, is one of the many security challenges facing the country as international troops withdraw’ writes the news agency and quotes AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini as saying: ‘Reducing insecurity in the short-term has positive aspects but it is laying the […]

31 Dec 2012

Afghanistan vor dem Abzug der ISAF-Truppen

Other AAN •

ARD/Tagesschau.de, 31 December 2012 In an article discussing the viability of the Afghan security forces (in German), AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini is quotes as saying: “On paper, the army might have a good standard. Every Afghans supports it, even the Taleban; they want to have the command over it, naturally. But the quality of the recruits […]

31 Dec 2012

Qatar, Islamabad, Chantilly, Ashgabad: Taleban Talks Season Again? (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

There has again been movement in the positions marking the landscape of ‘reconciliation’ or, more precisely, of contacts and possible negotiations with the Taleban seem to be moving again. A track II meeting, labelled as ‘intra-Afghan’ talks, was held in France and, before that, the so-called ‘HPC roadmap’ leaked, indicating a more active role of […]

31 Dec 2012

The ‘Afghanistan 1400’ Movement: Changing Youth Politics in Afghanistan?

S Reza Kazemi •

Afghanistan 1400, a new civic-political youth organisation, recently declared its existence in what is, in practice, a scattered and largely manipulated youth landscape in Afghanistan. Established by a number of highly educated and diverse young people, the group pursues an ambitious and forward-looking agenda of contributing to the emergence of a ‘prosperous and democratic Afghanistan’ […]

30 Dec 2012

Efter 11 års krig og Nato’s modoffensiv stiger antallet af Talebanangreb igen

AAN Team •

Politiken (Denmark), 29 December 2012 Quotes by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in an extensive article about the Danish and the US military mission in Afghanistan.

29 Dec 2012

Afghans just waiting for hell to break loose

admin •

The Australian, 29 December 2012 A reportage from Uruzgan’s Chora distrcit, one month after the Australian military closed its second-largest base in Afghanistan.

29 Dec 2012

Pessimism för Afghanistan överdriven (Pessimism over Afghanistan Exaggerated)

AAN Team •

Svenska Dagbladet, 28 December 2012 – Det är rätt att väcka frågan och det finns anledning till oro, men att det går så illa är inte alls givet. Att regeringen kollapsar är ett av flera tänkbara scenarier, säger Martine van Bijlert vid Afghanistan Analysts Network till TT. Mycket har förändrats i Afghanistan som inte är […]

28 Dec 2012

Afghan Prosecutor Faces Criticism for Her Pursuit of ‘Moral Crimes’

admin •

New York Times, 28 December 2012 The only woman serving as chief prosecutor in any of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, in Herat, has come to personify the fine line between the progressive and the conservative. She has come under criticism — that her office is jailing women for so-called moral crimes at nearly the highest pace […]

28 Dec 2012

Afghanistan Taliban appears to be softening stance

AAN Team •

Los Angeles Times, 27 December 2012 In this article taking stock of the Chantilly talks that included Taleban representatives, AAN’s Gran Hewad is quoted as saying: ‘It’s clear that the Taliban is not as popular as they were … or as strong […]. This is an opportunity. They are signaling that they are willing to […]

27 Dec 2012

Cómo empezó todo: Un breve repaso a los orígenes de los conflictos en Afganistán anteriores a 1979 (How It All Began: An Introduction into the pre-1979 origins of Afghanistan’s Conflicts)

Thomas Ruttig •

Papeles de relaciones ecosociales y cambio global. (Número 119), Madrid For most people, it was the Soviet invasion over Christmas 1979 that put Afghanistan on the political map again after many decades. But the origins of the internationalised Afghanistan conflict, currently in its 33rd year and often explained through a Cold War perspective only, goes […]

26 Dec 2012

Text of Speech Enunciated by Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan at a Research Conference in France

This was used as an annexe to the AAN report “Qatar, Islamabad, Chantilly, Ashgabad: Taleban Talks Season Again?” Monday, 10 Safar 1434 Monday, 24 December 2012 08:16 The full text of speech enunciated by two representatives from Political Office of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, Mawlawi Shahbuddin Dilawar and Doctor Muhammad Naeem, at research conference in […]

24 Dec 2012

The Refugees and the Christmas Tree: Afghan Asylum Seekers Protest in Berlin

Thomas Ruttig •

German asylum law has been under fire from human rights campaigners for years, for what its critics call the unfair limitations imposed on refugees. Only in July this year, the German Constitutional Court threw out the German government’s current provisions for social services for refugees as ‘evidently insufficient’ and unconstitutional because they are under the […]

24 Dec 2012