Month: July 2019

Young Academic Pits Himself Against Warlords in Afghanistan Poll

AAN •

Bloomberg, 16 July 2019 This article about one candidate for the 2019 presidential election briefly mentions AAN’s research about the field of contenders: His chief rivals include Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who’ve uneasily shared power since the last disputed election five years ago. Also in the running is Haneef Atmar, a former national […]

16 Jul 2019

Afghanistan’s Forests Are Turning a Profit for the Islamic State

AAN •

Foreign Policy, 15 July 2019 Apart from the fact that the report largely glimpses over that the major part of the damage to Kunar’s forests was done long before the IS emerged, an interesting look at the current state of affairs in one of Afghanistan’s few forested habitats.

15 Jul 2019

AAN Q&A: What came out of the Doha intra-Afghan conference?

Thomas Ruttig •

Representatives of Afghanistan’s warring parties and civil society met at a peace conference in Qatar’s capital Doha on 7-8 July 2019. They all participated ‘in their personal capacities’ in order to circumvent the Taleban’s rejection of direct talks with the Afghan government. The conference that took place behind closed doors ended with a joint final […]

11 Jul 2019

Erstmals gemeinsame Erklärung Afghanistan-Konferenz: Ein kleiner Schritt Richtung Frieden

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa/Westfälische Nachrichten, 9 July 2019 The German Press Agency quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the outcome of the intra-Afghan peace dialogue in Doha (in German): Doch was ist das zweiseitige Papier wert? Laut Afghanistan-Experten Thomas Ruttig von der Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network ist es ein kleiner Erfolg. «Es ist schon positiv, dass die Seiten zu […]

10 Jul 2019

Doha-Treffen: Gewalt in Afghanistan soll reduziert werden

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa/ORF, 9 July 2019 In this summary of the intra-Afghan Doha ‘peace conference’ and its joinr final statement (in German), there is a first reaction by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: Der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig von der Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network wies darauf hin, dass es sich bei der Dialogkonferenz um keine formellen Verhandlungen gehandelt habe. Das […]

9 Jul 2019

Resolution of Intra Afghan Peace Conference – Doha, July 2019 (Unofficial English Translation)

This is an unofficial translation of the resolution that was distributed in Dubai. It was initially prepared as an annexe to the AAN report “AAN Q&A: What came out of the Doha intra-Afghan conference?” published on 11 July on Doha Conference that took place between 7th to 8th July in 2019. Resolution of Intra Afghan […]

8 Jul 2019

The Two Faces of the Fatemiyun (I): Revisiting the male fighters

Mohsen Hamidi •

Over the last eight years, thousands of Afghan men and some boys have fought on the side of the Iran-supported Assad government in Syria as members of the Fatemiyun group. Although they are sent to Syria from Iran and supported by the Iranian government, Tehran describes the group as “self-motivated.” This dispatch, which is the […]

8 Jul 2019

Afghanische Friedensbemühungen: Eisbrechen mit den Taliban

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 8 July 2019 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, in his latest op-ed for the Berlin-based daily, reviews the set-up and context of the intra-Afghan dialogue conference held in Doha after its first round on Sunday, 7 July 2019 (in German).

8 Jul 2019

Vorsichtiger Optimismus bei Afghanistan-Treffen in Doha

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa, 8 July 2019 The German press agency quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the ongoing intra-Afghan dialogue conference in Doha: Der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig von der Kabuler Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network sagte, es gebe viel Gepäck und fehlendes Vertrauen auf allen Seiten. Doha sei daher eine Chance, Misstrauen abzubauen und sich darauf zu konzentrieren, nach […]

8 Jul 2019

Doha Dialogue Participants List – July 2019

Names of participants from the Doha meeting on 7-8 July 2019 is available here: 20190707 Doha dialogue participants list

7 Jul 2019

Afghanistan-Konferenz : „Auf Wunsch der Konfliktparteien“

Thomas Ruttig •

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, 7 July 2019 The leading German daily looks at the intra-Afghan dialogue conference starting today in Doha and the German role in it. AAN is quoted from Thomas Ruttig’s latest analysis of the talks process, but on the hints of an undeclared Taleban ceasefire over the recent Eid days: Auch zu einer […]

7 Jul 2019

Intensifying Violence Dulls Afghans’ Hopes for Peace

AAN •

International Crisis Group, 5 July 2019 In this commentary, ICG analyst and former AAN colleague Borhan Osman revisits “war-torn districts of rural Afghanistan” in Wardak, Ghazni, and Paktika provinces where he had travelled in June this year, over the Eid al-Fitr holidays, as he did the previous year. He was told about a “dramatic worsening […]

5 Jul 2019