Month: February 2023

The Daily Hustle: How to survive a winter in Kabul

Roxanna Shapour •

Winters in Kabul are always difficult, and this year was no exception – with temperatures dropping well below zero and heavy snowfall. The snow turns the unpaved secondary roads where most Kabulis live into rivers of mud, making it difficult for people to get around. But if there’s little snow – increasingly the case because […]

28 Feb 2023

Was wurde aus Ex-Präsident Aschraf Ghani?

Tagesspiegel, 25 February 2023 A quote from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this short article published in the Berlin-based daily about what became of pre-Taleban Afghan president Ashraf Ghani (in German): Thomas Ruttig says of Ghani today that his continued activities on social media would suggest he still sees himself as someone “who should play a […]

25 Feb 2023

The West Lives On in the Taliban’s Afghanistan

Palladium, 23 February 2023 An extensive reportage from Kabul, with some surprising findings of every-day life: In the bookstores of Kabul, at least, one can still find books by Hillary Clinton and Michelle Obama; contraception and tobacco are available, and the Taliban has yet to regulate internet access like other Islamic governments. One can find gyms and restaurants […]

23 Feb 2023

3 Hut uprising marks first step against Soviet occupation’

Pajhwok News Agency, 22 February 2023 In this article marking the anniversary of the 3 Hut uprising (February 1980) against the Soviet occupiers in Kabul, AAN research by Thomas Ruttig is quoted: Thomas Rotig [sic], one of the founders of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, quoted one of the eyewitnesses as saying: “On the night of […]

22 Feb 2023

Afghan Taliban deny banning contraceptives

The National, 18 February 2023 Two Afghan journalists, Sulaiman Hakemy and Ali Latifi, have re-researched a story that made international headlines: the alleged Taleban ban of contraceptives for women. They found there is no such ban and even managed to get an official response from the Taleban: Dr Sharafat Zaman Amar, spokesman for the Taliban-run […]

18 Feb 2023

Taliban gegen Geburtenkontrolle

taz, 13 February 2023 Op-ed by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about reports by Afghan exile media that the Taleban have banned women to purchase contraceptives (in German), coming to the conclusion that there is no sign on an official ban. He also quotes Taleban sources not opposing contraceptives in general and gives background on the (growing) […]

13 Feb 2023

The Politics of Survival in the Face of Exclusion: Hazara and Shia actors under the Taleban

Ali Yawar Adili •

Since the Taleban’s return to power, an array of Hazara and Shia Muslim groups and individuals have tried to position themselves vis-à-vis the new order in an effort to protect a community that feels particularly vulnerable. The struggle over who gets to speak for the community has revived old intra-communal rivalries and factionalism, weakened their […]

9 Feb 2023

Jihadi blues: Taliban bureaucrats lament office life, miss the old days of waging jihad

Washington Examiner, 6 February 2023 The Washington-based publication has summarised quotes from AAN’s latest report – interviews with five Taleban about how they experience Kabul after their takeover – into a short article.

6 Feb 2023

New Lives in the City: How Taleban have experienced life in Kabul

Sabawoon Samim •

A large number of Taleban fighters have moved to Afghanistan’s cities since the movement’s capture of power, many of them seeing life in the city for the first time in their lifetime. These fighters, many of whom are from villages, had lived modest lives, entirely focused on the war. Their circumstances have changed entirely since […]

2 Feb 2023