Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: February 2014

Detainee releases prisoner to US-Afghan relations

AAN •

France 24, 14 February 2014 In an explainer about the release of 65 detainees from Bagram prison, the website of the French international TV refers to an AAN dispatch by Kate Clark: Under the 2013 Afghan/US Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) – which has not been released, but has been seen by Kate Clark of the Kabul-based […]

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Withdrawing from Afghanistan – 1989 and 2014

admin •

Deutsche Welle, 14 February 2014 In this article on the 25th anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan, AAN's Thomas Ruttig is quoted on the status of and problems in the ANSF. he, however, would not call Afghan society "unchanged" as the author insinuates.  

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Bird Watchers Gear Up For Global Count [incl. in Afghanistan]

AAN •

RFE/RL, 13 February 2014 Afghanistan makes an appearance in the world wide 17th annual Great Backyard Bird Count on 14 and 17 Fenruary, with also a photo contest involved.  

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65 “Innocent” / “Dangerous” Detainees Released From Bagram: What secret documents say about Afghan and US claims

Kate Clark •

Today, Thursday, 13 February, the Afghan authorities have released 65 detainees from the Bagram Detention Facility. The Afghan government says they are “suffering innocents” who were illegally detained by the United States military. The US says they are dangerous men with Afghan or foreign blood on their hands who should be going to court, not […]

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U.S. says freed Afghan prisoners are a threat to civilians, troops

AAN •

Los Angeles Times, 13 February 2014 Reporting on the disputed release of 68 prisoners from Bagram, the US daily quotes from a dispatch by Kate Clark, "an expert with the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network": "The U.S. may be right — in part — in claiming the Afghan government has violated the agreement" governing the transfer of […]

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Das große Drogengeschäft in Afghanistan

admin •

ARD Tagesschau24, 13 February 2013 (not online) The round-the-clock news programme of Germany's main TV network, had a live interview with AAN's Thomas Ruttig today about the repercussions of the Afghan drug industry. Main points were: it is not only the Taleban who profit from the drug economy; there are protection rackets with links to […]

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West fears more backsliding on Afghan women’s rights

AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 12 February 2014 In an article about the controversial planned amendment of the Afghan Criminal Code, the newspaper extensively quotes AAN's Christine Roehrs about details or the law: Christine Roehrs, an analyst with the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said the law is very similar to one already on the books saying relatives cannot […]

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A Helmand that is rarely seen

AAN •

BBC, 12 February 2014 The BBC's Bilal Sarwary, who so far has publishes scores of beautiful photos from rarely seen corners of Afghanistan on his twitter account, has added some text to some of them now. Today: from Helmand. We hope that this will become a serial.

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Continuing Conflict Is Not Victory: What the 2013 UNAMA civilian casualties report tells us about the war

Kate Clark •

The conflict in Afghanistan is now overwhelmingly Afghan versus Afghan – this is one of the conclusions to be drawn from UNAMA’s 2013 Protection of Civilians report. 8,615 civilians were killed or wounded during 2013 and only three per cent of those by the international military forces. Counting deaths and injuries together, 2013 was more […]

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Afghan Forces Accused of Helmand Civilian Casualties

AAN •

IWPR, 10 February 2014 Now the ANSF are running into a major problem that dogged the interrnational forces and undermined their support in Afghanistan: civilian casualties. IWPR has cases from Helmand, involving the national army, police and the notorious Afghan Local Police.

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Re-plugging: The final list of presidential and vice-presidential candidates

Thomas Ruttig •

After some queries on social media and a check of several websites, including that of the Afghan Independent Election Commission,(1) there seems to be a lack of the complete final list of all tickets for the 5 April 2014 presidential election, particularly of the 11 contenders’ vice-presidential candidates. As a reference document, AAN’s co-director Thomas […]

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Afghan man on childhood Channel Tunnel escape

AAN •

BBC, 7 February 2014 An Afghan man describes how he smuggled himself into Britain through the Channel Tunnel aged 14 after Taleban invaded his village and killed many members of his family. Watch a video here.

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