Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: September 2013

An Anatomy of Sharif’s First 100 Days

AAN

Jinnah Institute (Pakistan), 12 September 2013 Renowned Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussain reviews the first 100 days of the new Pakistani government and comes to devastating conclusions: "[T]he first 100 days of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government have been decidedly short on deliverables. … This 100-day phase has clearly lacked the direction and clarity of vision needed […]

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Insécurité accrue par les conflits fonciers en Afghanistan

AAN Team

Portail humanitaire (France), 12 September 2013 In a report about humanitarian aspects of the ongoing conflicts in Afghanistan, the French website quotes an AAN report about land disputes north of Kabul, in Dehsabz.

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Football Victory II: A night and a day of celebrations

AAN Team

It was a burst of massive happiness, a moment of sheer bliss and pride, something few Afghans have experienced much of in the past and thus even more powerful: only moments after Afghanistan won the South Asian Football Federation Championship, defeating India with 2:0, waves of people filled the streets of Kabul and many other […]

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Football Victory I: Lions beating Tigers – the match report

AAN Team

The jubilation of football players who have just won a cup final is similar the world over, but neither Bayern Munich, who won this year’s European Champions League, or Spain, who won the last World Cup, celebrated as the Afghan national team did in Nepal last night. They danced wildly, threw their manager in the air […]

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Thematic Dossier II: Football in Afghanistan

Fabrizio Foschini

Tonight (11 September 2013) Afghanistan is playing in the South Asian Football Cup Final, facing India in a match starting at 17.00 Kabul time. Soccer is quickly becoming a favorite in Afghanistan, both as a sport played by the youth and as a passion for the public watching it on television at home. After an […]

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Critics weigh in on Taliban release

AAN Team

al-Jazeera, 9 September 2013 AAN’s Borhan Osman, speaking to al-Jazeera on the release of seven taleban prisonsers by Pakistan says the seven men were hardly the vanguard of the Taleban movement. Two, he said, have come under suspicion within the militia for relations with foreigners – including Pakistani intelligence – and “not following orders”. Osman further said […]

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Britain’s Drone War in Afghanistan

AAN

Global Research, 10 September 2013 While reporting about drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan usually is focussed on the US, the British government now has published figures about it use of drones in Afghanistan for the first time. It says that British forces have carried out 299 drone strikes in Afghanistan, between 2008 to the end of […]

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World’s best diplomats: Here’s how to achieve peace in Syria

AAN Team

Salon.com, 10 September 2013 Six essential lessons and suggestions of those who ended wars from Central America to Bosnia, Yemen to Afghanistan, obviously including the head of AAN’s Advisory Board Francesc Vendrell.

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Land disputes add to Afghanistan’s security woes

AAN Team

IRIN, 10 September 2013 The UN-run news agency analyses land conflicts in Afghanistan and quotes, among other reports, an AAN dispatch by Fabrizio Foschini about the conflict in Deh-e Sabz, just north of Kabul, over the construction of an up-market housing complex with local Kuchis.

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Hardly a game-changer: Afghan Taliban’s release

AAN

Dawn (Pakistan), 9 September 2013 Excellent editorial on the release of seven Afghan Taleban prisoners: "More than likely, the release … is a small confidence-building measure on the part of Pakistan to try and rehabilitate ties with outgoing President Karzai without significantly impacting the intra-Afghan dialogue process. … [a]t this late stage, with 2014 just […]

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End of a Peace Process? Pressure on Islamist party undermines Tajik post-civil war consensus

Thomas Ruttig

Tajikistan’s government is cracking down on the main opposition party, the Islamist IRPT. Some say this is just part of a pre-election campaign (the country is to elect its president in November); others see longer-term implications that could jeopardise the 1997 peace agreement that still shapes the country’s political reality. The IRPT – the only […]

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No Favourite to Succeed Karzai as Afghan President

AAN Team

AFP/West Australian, 8 September 2013 In this analysis of the current pre-election constellation, AAN’s ThomasRuttig is quoted as saying that there will be “alliance building going on till the last minute”. Ruttig thinks in the moment a three-way race would be most likely but warns “none of this is cast in iron yet”. Currently, he predicts, that […]

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