Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: January 2017

Backgrounder: Literature Review of Local, Community or Sub- State Forces in Afghanistan

Erica Gaston • Kate Clark •

Afghanistan’s history has long been dominated and shaped by the interaction of militias with the state. In the post-2001 era, international actors, sometimes with Afghan state cooperation, have tried to use militias to fill perceived gaps in security. Since 2002, a range of foreign-backed local, hybrid or non-state security forces (LHSFs) have emerged. They include […]

Special Reports Read more

Radio wars: Islamic State takes over the Afghan airwaves

AAN •

IRIN, 31 January 2017 In this article about the IS radio station in Afghanistan, the author quotes from a dispatch by AAN’s Borhan Osman: IS “has put far greater effort into its media activities than would normally be expected from a nascent group of its size”, said the Afghanistan Analysts Network in a reportlast month that […]

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Saudi, other Muslims spared ban as US allies: experts

Martine van Bijlert •

Yeni Safak, 31 January 2017 Discussing why Afghanistan may have been spared the new US travel ban, AAN’s Kate Clark said: “Afghanistan might not be on the list as there are a lot of business deals and economic ties between it and America, or the administration in DC might fear that listing Afghanistan would be […]

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Bayern bei Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan besonders gnadenlos: »Einige entziehen willkürlich die Arbeitserlaubnis«

Thomas Ruttig •

junge Welt, 28 January 2017 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted in this interview by the German leftwing daily with the head of the Bavarian Refugee Council (in Germany) about the local government withdrawing work permits from Afghan asylum seekers: Von Experten wie Thomas Ruttig, Direktor des Afghanistan Analysts Networks, wissen wir, dass es für viele […]

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Baghe-Babur in the snow, January 2017. Photo: Martine van Bijlert

What to Watch? Key issues to follow in Afghanistan in 2017

AAN Team •

As in most years, the feeling in January 2017 is that this will be another crucial year for Afghanistan. The AAN team has identified several key themes that we think it important to follow this year. They range from crises in the Afghan government and how changes in global politics, particularly the change of administration […]

Political Landscape Read more

Around the World in Trump Tweets: Afghanistan

AAN •

RFE/RL, 26 January 2017 The Gandhara blog of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty has done good research: all (at least many) past tweets by the new US president by country. Click Afghanistan.

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Islamic State’s Khorasan Province, 2 Years on

AAN •

The Diplomat, 26 January 2017 AAN’s Borhan Osman is quoted here in a longer part: As Borhan Osman, of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, points out, “while ISKP’s influence on the battlefield seems to be waning — at least for now — its ideological potential does not seem to be in a concordant state of decline.” […]

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Abgeschoben, aus dem Blick verloren

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 26 January 2017 This article looking at which support is given to rejected and deported Afghan asylum seekers arriving back in Afghanistan has a short quote with an observation reported to AAN from Kabul airport: “They simply walk to the taxi stand.”  

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Abschiebungen nach Afghanistan: „Das muss sofort aufhören!“

Thomas Ruttig •

Mitteldeutsche Zeitung, Berliner Zeitung und Kölner Stadtanzeiger, 24. January 2017 The three newspapers carry an identical article, reporting the latest German deportation flight with rejected Afghan asylum seekers back to Afghanistan and the widespread criticism of it. It also quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig as saying that the deportation was “improper” as Afghanistan was not a […]

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During the previous elections in Afghanistan, the IEC's temporary electoral staff was hired from the open job market through a process of staggered recruitment. In the next election, according to the new electoral law, the temporary staff will be drawn from among the government's teachers, professors and other employees. Picture: Martine van Bijlert, 2014.

Afghanistan’s Incomplete New Electoral Law: Changes and controversies

Ali Yawar Adili • Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s new electoral law has come into force, which means that the requirement of electoral reform ahead of the next elections has – at least nominally – been met. AAN’s Ali Yawar Adili and Martine van Bijlert discuss the main features of the new law and note that the most controversial and complicated changes have been passed on […]

Political Landscape Read more

Afghan woman: sold like a goat, treated like a dog

Martine van Bijlert • AAN •

Daily News (Pakistan), 20 January 2017 Article on the ill-treatment of women in Afghanistan refers to a case discussed in AAN’s recent dispatch by Salima Ahmadi “Reality Check: No justice for women in Ghor province”: On 25 October 2015, Afghanistan Analyst Network in its paper reported 19 years old girl Miss Rukhshanda was stoned to death in […]

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Der UNHCR-Bericht zu Afghanistan: Nächste allgemeine Verunsicherung

Thomas Ruttig •

Al-Sharq, 18 January 2017 The Berlin-based Middle East-focussed blog reprints a blog entry from AAN co-director Thomas Ruttig’s German language blog, Afghanistan Zhaghdablai, and where he, in turn, quotes from an AAN dispatch by Reza Kazemi about Herat: Zu Herat: Dort wird in einigen, auch sehr stadtnahen Distrikten durchaus gekämpft, und zwar zunehmend. Im letzten Afghan […]

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