Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Month: September 2019

Drawings of mynahs by Serbian ornithologist Voislav Vasić, who travelled to Afghanistan in 1972 in search of birds. Photo: Author

Searching for the Afghan Snowfinch: Memories of a birdwatching journey fifty years ago

Voislav Vasic •

The bearded vulture, the rich diversity of wheatears and, above all, the Afghan snowfinch – found nowhere else in the world – are what drew a young ornithologist, Voislav Vasić, to travel from Yugoslavia to Afghanistan in the summer of 1972. In this guest dispatch, Vasić, now the retired head of the national Natural History […]

Context and Culture Read more

16 Sept 2019: Do the Taleban Want Peace? Seminar in Oslo

Thomas Ruttig •

Seminar in Oslo on 16 September (6-8pm), organised by the Norwegian Afghanistan Committee. Panel with: Ashley Jackson, Overseas Development Institute and Kings College, London Thomas Ruttig, Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) Ahmad Yasir Aqil, freelancer, Oslo moderator: Kai Eide     Here the original (Norwegian) announcement: Invitasjon til møte 16. september. kl 18-20, Tøyen,Oslo AKTUELT/ onsdag […]

Events Read more

Afghan election back in spotlight after Trump’s Taliban tweets

Thomas Ruttig •

AFP/Daily Mail, 13 September 2019 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted on the forthcoming Afghan presidential election and possible Taleban violence: The question is whether the elections can be seen as fair and representative, say experts from the Afghanistan Analysts Network. AAN analyst Thomas Ruttig told AFP that with the election so near it was “difficult […]

AAN in the Media Read more

New generation of Taliban fuels battles in northern Afghanistan

AAN •

Stars and Stripes, 10 September 2019 AAN’s Obaid Ali is quoted here on the Taleban recruiting non-Pashtuns in northern and northeastern Afghanistan: “It’s a new generation, run by locals,” said Obaid Ali, analyst for Afghanistan Analysts Network, in a phone interview. “There are no longer people coming from the south to serve as shadow governors […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Taleban attacks on Kunduz and Pul-e Khumri: Symbolic operations

Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

In the last week Taleban have attacked and entered three provincial centres, Kunduz city, Pul-e Khumri in Baghlan and Farah city, before being pushed back. This dispatch focusses on the offensives against Pul-e Khumri and Kunduz, considering them in the context of the regional security of northeastern Afghanistan. It finds that key lessons from earlier […]

War and Peace Read more

‘Praten met Taliban blijft in ieders belang’

AAN •

NRC, 10 September 2019 “It is in everyone’s interest to continue talking to the Taleban” – interview with AAN co-founder Martine van Bijlert in the Dutch daily. She says she doesn’t think that this was “the definite end of the talks” and that they can be resumed. The alternative for the US “is continuation of the […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Trump beendet Gespräche: “Für die Menschen in Afghanistan ist es eine Katastrophe”

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF4, 10 September 2019 Radio interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (in German) on Swiss Radio, saying that the President Trump’s cancellation of the Taleban talks was a catastrophe as peace for Afghans will be pushed into the far future, the a new start for talks might be far away and both sides in the war […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Taliban und Regierungskräfte liefern sich neue Gefechte

Thomas Ruttig •

dpa/Tagesspiegel, 10 September 2019 The Berlin-based daily quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the new fighting in several Afghan provinces as a result of the cancelled US-Taleban deal (in German): Dem Afghanistan-Experten Thomas Ruttig von der Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network zufolge ist als Folge des Abbruchs der USA-Taliban-Gespräche mit einem Anstieg der Gewalt zu rechnen. „Die Alternative zu Verhandlungen ist Krieg“, […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Der Rückzieher: Donald Trump und die Taliban-Verhandlungen

Thomas Ruttig •

Spiegel online, 9 September 2019 Quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on Trump calling off the Taleban deal in the online version of the leading German news magazine: Für die Menschen in Afghanistan ist das Scheitern der Gespräche eine schlechte Nachricht: “Beide Seiten werden wohl den Krieg nun weiter eskalieren”, prophezeit Thomas Ruttig, Co-Direktor des Afghanistan […]

AAN in the Media Read more

Trump declares US-Taliban talks ‘dead’ after cancelling Camp David meeting

AAN •

Guardian, 9 September 2019 AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted in the British daily from her latest dispatch: “What looks to be the failure of these particular talks makes a negotiated end to the war, for now, less likely,” wrote Kate Clark of the Afghanistan Analysts Network.

AAN in the Media Read more

The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan Declaration about the Tweet of Donald Trump Regarding the Negotiations

8 September 2019 We had fruitful negotiations with the American negotiation team and the agreement was finalised. The American negotiation team was happy with the progresses made and we ended the talks in a good atmosphere. Both teams were busy with preparations for the announcement and signing of the agreement. We had selected 23 September […]

Taleban and related documents Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up