Month: August 2021

Afghanistan Has a New Government: The country wonders what the new normal will look like

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan has a new government. Its exact shape is not yet clear, but its contours can be discerned from a combination of messaging, how the Taleban entered and then took control of Kabul and reports from areas that had come under their control over the last few weeks, months and years. So far, the public […]

17 Aug 2021

Is This How It Ends? With the Taleban closing in on Kabul, President Ghani faces tough decisions

Martine van Bijlert •

Things have been moving at breakneck speed since the first provincial capital – Zaranj in Nimruz – fell to the Taleban on 6 August. Six of the seven zonal army corps have either surrendered or dissolved, with only the Shaheen Corps in Jalalabad left, which has not been attacked yet. Over 20 provincial capitals are […]

15 Aug 2021

The Domino Effect in Paktia and the Fall of Zurmat: A case study of the Taleban surrounding Afghan cities

Thomas Ruttig • Sayed Asadullah Sadat •

After a siege of almost two months, the centre of the strategic district of Zurmat in Paktia province fell into the hands of the Taleban on 2 July 2021. This followed the successive collapse of 11 of the 14 districts of Paktia to the Taleban within six days in late June/early July. AAN’s Thomas Ruttig […]

14 Aug 2021

Blitzoffensive in Afghanistan: Taliban stehen vor Kabul

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 13 August 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig provids the latest round-up of the quickly changing security situation in Afghanistan (in German)

13 Aug 2021

Drogen, Gold und flexible Fronten: Sieg der Taliban in Nord-Afghanistan

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 12 August 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig looks at the reasons behind the unexpected Taleban success in northern Afghanistan, deemed to be an anti-Taleban stronghold – and why this has not been the case anymore for many years (in German).

12 Aug 2021

Joschka Fischer zur Kundus-Eroberung der Taliban „Es beginnt eine neue Schreckenszeit für die Afghanen“

Tagesspiegel, 9 August 2021 Next to the former German foreign minister, also AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted here: Auch nach Einschätzung des Afghanistan-Experten Thomas Ruttig ist der Fall von Kundus ein wichtiger Erfolg für die Taliban. „Sie haben jetzt von dort und von Süd-Afghanistan aus die Option, auf Kabul zu marschieren“, sagte Ruttig dem Tagesspiegel. […]

9 Aug 2021

Eroberungskrieg in Afghanistan: Kundus in Händen der Taliban

Tageszeitung, 9 August 2021 Another round-up (in German) of the current security situation in Afghanistan, after the Taleban captured several provincial capitals, by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig. With an additional commentary.

9 Aug 2021

The Fall of Nimruz: A symbolic or economic game-changer?

Fabrizio Foschini •

With the fall of five provincial capitals in three days – Zaranj in Nimruz, Sheberghan in Jowzjan, Sarepul, Kunduz and Taloqan in Takhar –, the Taleban switched pace. After an unexpected and highly successful sweep of rural districts in many parts of Afghanistan yielded particularly astounding results in areas considered ‘difficult’ for them, such as […]

9 Aug 2021

Taliban-Vormarsch: Islamisten nehmen Kundus ein

dpa/Generalanzeiger, 8 August 2021 Der Verlust kleinerer Provinzhauptstädte sei „für die Regierung ein enormer Prestigeverlust, aber noch zu verschmerzen“, meint der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig von der Kabuler Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network. Der Fall von Kundus hingegen „wiegt schwerer“. Er könnte den Weg in die Hauptstadt öffnen, nach Kabul. Man müsse allerdings die Frage stellen, ob […]

8 Aug 2021

Vertrauliches Treffen in Doha: Bundesregierung führt Gespräche mit Taliban

ZDF, 6 August 2021 AAN’s Thomas Rutig commenting about the role of former Guantanamo and other Taleban ex-prisoners in Doha, after between German government and Taleban representatives: Die wenigen Taliban-Führer, die aus Gefängnissen in Guantanamo oder Pakistan entlassen wurden, gehören für Afghanistan-Experte Ruttig zu den Schlüsselfiguren des Konflikts. “Sie haben überlebt und sind bei ihren […]

6 Aug 2021

Vormarsch der Taliban in Afghanistan: Unheilvolle Vorahnung

Tageszeitung, 4 August 2021 A round-up of the current security situation (Taleban advances and attack on defence minister’s residence in Kabul), but also a discussion of which reports on Taleban atrocities are real and which are possibly made up.

4 Aug 2021

Afghan forces face intense Taliban test as foreign troops leave

AFP/France24, 4 August 2021 AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted here on the dropping morale in the Afghan government forces: “Even if the government had intended to let some districts fall… the damage to morale of the security forces and of the nation of seeing districts toppling like dominoes cannot be underestimated,” Kate Clark of the […]

4 Aug 2021