Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: July 2018

AAN’s Doris Buddenberg and Jelena Bjelica on opium in Afghanistan – July 2018. Episode: 2

AAN Guests •

Member of AAN’s advisory board and also, the Former Resident Representative of United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Afghanistan Doris Buddenberg and AAN’s Jelena who also worked with the UNODC between 2010-14. Together they discuss the role on opium in Afghanistan.  

Podcasts Read more

“Abschiebungen sind nicht zu rechtfertigen”

Thomas Ruttig •

junge Welt, 30 July 2018 The Berlin-based leftwing daily – where he worked for several years in the early 1990s – has interviewed AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about deportations to Afghanistan (“not justified”) and the related security situation (“worsening”, “country-wide war”) (in German).

AAN in the Media Read more

Less Rain and Snowfall in Afghanistan: High level of food assistance needed until early 2019

Jelena Bjelica •

The Famine Early Warning System (FEWS) has reported that in 22 of Afghanistan’s provinces, cumulative rain and snowfall during the ‘wet season’ – October 2017 to May 2018 – was 30 to 60 per cent below average. The northwest of the country has been particularly hard hit. AAN’s Jelena Bjelica (with input from Obaid Ali […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Nangarhar: descent into chaos

AAN •

Bureau of Investigative Journalism, 30 July 2018 This report on the worsening security situation in Nangrahar province has a quote from AAN’s Fazal Muzhary: “As part of the war strategy the US even used the ‘mother of all bombs’ [MOAB] in Nangarhar last year, but it did not result in the slightest reduction of violence,” […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Abschieben um jeden Preis

Thomas Ruttig •

Jungle World, 26 July 2018 The German leftwing weekly briefly quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, from his presentation at the recent First Bavarian Afghanistan Conference in Munich: Auf einer Münchner Konferenz über die Situation in Afghanistan Mitte Juli, zu der unter anderem der Bayerische Flüchtlingsrat, das Wohn- und Kulturzentrum für Geflüchtete »Bellevue di Monaco« und »Jugendliche […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Watchdog says U.S. wasted more than $15 billion in past 11 years in Afghanistan

AAN •

NBC, 26 July 2018 The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) charged with tracking government spending in Afghanistan has released its first estimate of the total amount of money wasted there — a staggering $15.5 billion over 11 years — but says even that figure is “likely … only a portion of the total waste, […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Abschiebung nach Afghanistan: “Ich habe Angst”

Thomas Ruttig •

MDR, 25 July 2018 In this part of the TV news magazine “Exakt” by the Saxony state public broadcaster that researched the whereabouts and living conditions of three recently deported rejected Afghan asylum seekers from that state contains some quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the general situation in Afghanistan (in German)

AAN in the Media Read more

The Insecure Spring of Ghazni: Results of third-grade treatment by the centre?

Ehsan Qaane •

Ghazni is one province where the Taleban have long-established significant influence. Actually, they dominate it militarily, with the exception of the provincial capital, all but one of the 18 district centres and some larger areas in three districts. Over the spring of 2018, the Taleban – although not capturing more territory –, have significantly expanded […]

War and Peace Read more

Tatort Schule: Unterricht in Kriegsgebieten

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 24 July 2018 In this compilation of short reports from various countries, reflecting the recently published report on violence against schools, teachers and pupils, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig reports about Afghanistan, highlighting the changed Taleban policy on state schools (control rather then destroy) and the growing IS threat.

AAN in the Media Read more
Cover of "Directorate S: The CIA and America’s secret wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan, 2001-2016" written by: Steve Coll

“The US’s Greatest Strategic Failure”: Steve Coll on the CIA and the ISI

Ann Wilkens •

“Directorate S” is Steve Coll’s second major study of the CIA’s role in recent Afghan wars. While “Ghost Wars” chronicled the years 1979-2001, “Directorate S” – referring to a subdivision of Pakistan’s inter-services intelligence directorate that covers Afghanistan – takes up the story in 2001 and follows it through to 2016. AAN Advisory Board member […]

Regional Relations Read more

Enemy Number One: How the Taleban deal with the ALP and uprising groups

Borhan Osman • Kate Clark •

It is one of the few ‘truths’ of the Afghan insurgency that the Taleban hate arbaki– their term for locally-recruited defence forces, primarily the Afghan Local Police and uprising groups.These forces have always been a mixed bag, with some abusing the local population or captured by ethnic, factional or criminal interests. However, especially where they […]

War and Peace Read more

Afghan peace process requires a neutral mediator

AAN •

Financial Times, 19 July 2018 Ahmed Rashid makes an important point in this opinion piece, advocating for a neutral mediator or supervisor for US-Taleban talks – arguing that Starting negotiations is a good thing, but the current opportunity could be squandered if the US goes about the process in the wrong way. (…) So far, […]

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