Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: January 2013

Folter in Afghanistan: «Guantanomo ist kein gutes Vorbild»

Other AAN •

SRF4 (Swiss Radio), 21 January 2013 Listen to an audio (in German), with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig commenting on UNAMA’s recent report about torture in Afghan security services installations, including that particularly the US, with Gunatanamo and renditions of terror suspects to countries that torture, have not been a convincing example to persuade Afghan authorities to […]

AAN in the Media Read more

UN Torture Report: still no accountability for torture

Kate Clark •

UNAMA’s new report on the torture of ‘conflict related detainees’ makes bleak reading and not only because of the scale and weight of evidence against Afghan intelligence and the police. UNAMA reported that more than half of those interviewed had experienced torture or ill-treatment. They included children as young as 14. The UN also says […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Striking at Kabul, in 2013: the attack on the traffic police HQ

Fabrizio Foschini •

Just before dawn, the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) premises on the Deh Mazang roundabout in West Kabul came under attack. After a massive car bomb detonated in front of the building, an insurgent commando of five men tried to enter the traffic police headquarters. Two of them eventually made their way inside, and holed […]

War and Peace Read more

Despite a Whiff of Unpleasant Exaggeration, a City’s Pollution Is Real

admin •

New York Times, 21 January 2013 A report about pollution and air quality in Kabul, with the Kabul mayor Mohammad Yunus Nawandish saying: ‘Kabul air is not as polluted with human feces as they say.’

Recommended Reads Read more

AAN Occasional Paper on the Pre-1979 Causes of the Afghan Conflict

AAN • admin •

For most people, it was the Soviet invasion over Christmas 1979 that put Afghanistan on the political map when, in the very last days of the 1970s, the Soviet leadership made the central Asian country the arena of the hottest conflict in the last part of the Cold War. As a result, the internationalised Afghanistan […]

Events Read more

How It All Began: Pre-1979 Origins of Afghanistan’s Conflict

Thomas Ruttig •

For most people, it was the Soviet invasion over Christmas 1979 that put Afghanistan on the political map when, in the very last days of the 1970s, the Soviet leadership made the central Asian country the arena of the hottest conflict in the last part of the Cold War. As a result, the internationalised Afghanistan […]

Special Reports Read more

Black & Veatch, with history of problems in Afghanistan, now has another

admin •

McClatchy newspapers, 19 January 2013 Another (failed and USAID-financed) US contractor story, featuring the ‘White Elephant of Kabul’, the Tarakhel Power Plant, a USD 300 million project.

Recommended Reads Read more

Nationalism, religion a deadly mix in Balochistan

admin •

Dawn (Pakistan), 15 January 2013 A mind-blowing account of how Baloch secular political traditions were undermined and a militant Islamist brand spead – backdrop to latest terrorist attacks and protests in Quetta.

Recommended Reads Read more

Rural Afghans turn against Taliban, eke out own fight

Other AAN •

USA Today, 18 January 2013 This report about the anti-Taleban ‘uprising’ in Andar district quotes researcher Emal Habib who has investigated these developments for AAN that leaders of the uprising are guilty of committing their own abuses against villagers: ‘So far, these guys are not well-structured and have rivalries within the movement.’ He says locals […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Where Many Streets Have No Name: One for the Freedom of Speech?

Thomas Ruttig •

Afghan journalists want to rename a street in central Kabul ‘Freedom of Speech Street’ to honour the many colleagues who have sacrificed their lives in this cause over the past ten years. Their initiative has met some resistance – not because of the content but because the street already bears the name of an independence […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Playgrounds of Afghanistan, Part 1

admin •

El Snarkistani’s blog, 18 January 2013 US company builds playgrounds for children in Afghanistan, financed by USAID. Snarky adds photos of Afghan-build playgrounds…

Recommended Reads Read more

US halts Afghan prisoner transfers over torture concerns, report says

Other AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 17 January 2013 In this report about another glitch in US-Afghan relations over prisoners, AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted as calling Afghan officials’ claims that allegations of torture in the country’s prisons are wrong, as not credible. She adds that ‘It looks like something has gone wrong with the ISAF program to […]

AAN in the Media Read more

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