Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: September 2013

Afghanistaneinsatz (in two parts)

AAN Team •

Campus-Radio Köln, 30 September 2013 Audios of AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in a 2-part interview with the campus radio of Cologne University, a balance of the German mission and a look into the future (in German).

AAN in the Media Read more

Dancing to Power: Getting an Afghan presidential ticket together

Gran Hewad • Kate Clark •

With less than a week to go before the deadline for registering the three-person tickets for next April’s presidential elections, still no major candidate has registered (although one, Ashraf Ghani, has resigned from his government position, a clear indication that he intends to run) and Dr Abdullah has just announced that he will register tomorrow, 1 […]

Political Landscape Read more

Enttäuschte Hoffnungen: 10 Jahre Einsatz in Kunduz (not yet online)

AAN Team •

Loyal (Germany), October 2013 The magazine of the German army’s reservists’ association draws a balance of the Bundeswehr mission in Kunduz that is currebtly coming to an end with the dismantling and partial handover to the ANSF of the German PRT’s compaound. Thomas Ruttig is quoted here on the security situation, saying that – compared […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Battle for Political Power Underway in Afghanistan

AAN Team •

Voice of America, 29 September 2013 AAN’s Kate Clark comments on how Afghan leaders are cutting political deals in the run-up to the April 2013 presidential elections: “You have to do deals. And none of it, pretty well none of it, is ideological. None of it’s party-based,” she said. “It’s pretty well all about interests, and […]

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Mursi in Kabul: Afghan Islamists scrutinise democracy in the wake of Egypt’s coup

Borhan Osman •

A number of rallies in support of Egypt’s ousted president, Muhammad Mursi, and in solidarity with the Muslim Brotherhood recently brought together Afghanistan’s diverse Islamist groups in rare unanimity of opinion. Kabul has not yet seen such a mobilisation, and with such diverse participation, caused by a political issue in another country. Pro- and anti-government Islamist […]

Political Landscape Read more

Death List Published: Families of disappeared end a 30 year wait for news

Kate Clark •

This week some Afghan families have finally been able to hold a fateha (mourning ceremony) for fathers, brothers and sons who disappeared more than thirty years ago. Evidence of the fate of their relatives came with the publication by the Dutch prosecutor’s office of a list of almost 5000 people killed during the first 20 […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Afghan Warlord: ‘The West Must Give Us Our Weapons Back’

AAN •

Spiegel online, 25 September 2013 Interview by Christian Neef with Ismail Khan in Herat who provided a number of interesting quotes: that the Afghan army trained by the West will never be capable of ensuring the country's long-term security; that "the arrogant Americans drove the most important Taliban out of Kabul, bombed the rest from the air and then […]

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Violent militant Sunni group, Jundullah, sets sights on Pakistan’s minority religions

AAN •

AP/The New Republic, 25 September 2013 Interesting background piece by Kathy Gannon about the militant, sectarian group Jundullah that bombed a Christian church in Peshawar on 22 September. She quotes Pakistani terrorism watchers saying that it maybe one of eleven TTP sub-groups specialised on particular targets.

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The Other Fold of the Turban: Afghanistan’s Hindus and Sikhs

Fabrizio Foschini •

Recent efforts to reserve a seat in the Wolesi Jirga (the lower house of the parliament) for the Hindus and Sikhs of Afghanistan have rekindled some interest in this tiny religious minority. Included in the draft of the electoral law, the issue was rejected by the parliament in July, but has been re-enforced on 3 […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The Release of Mullah Baradar: What’s next for negotiations?

Kate Clark •

It has been reported that Pakistan has released the most senior Taleban it had in its custody, Mullah Abdul-Ghani Baradar. At the time of his arrest in Karachi in 2010, Baradar was the effective number two in the movement and de facto operational chief of the insurgency. Both the Pakistani and Afghan governments have said […]

War and Peace Read more

Dismantling Human Rights in Afghanistan: The AIHRC facing a possible downgrading of status

Kate Clark • Sari Kouvo •

The Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) “has been until now”, said Navi Pillay, the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), “a critical, credible institution.” That ‘until now’ is significant: Pillay was visiting Afghanistan partly to discuss the risk to the Commission of losing its ‘A status’ when it comes up for international […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

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