Month: March 2024

From Afghanistan to Moscow’s Crocus City Hall

Monocle Radio, 27 March 2024 Listen to panellists, Kate Clark and Vincent McAviney, exploring on the Zurich and London-based radio station, whether Afghanistan is in danger or re-emerging as a hub of global terrorism.

27 Mar 2024

Finally, Rain and Snow in Afghanistan: Will it be enough to avert another year of drought?

Kate Clark • AAN Team •

The last few weeks have finally seen rain and snowfall in Afghanistan, raising hopes for farmers and herders that this year could be better than the last three drought years. Afghans typically categorise a drought year as one where the low amount of precipitation causes problems for agriculture – a poor harvest or crop failure […]

26 Mar 2024

لنډ خبرونه – د زهرو کاروان

Radio Azadi, 23 March 2024 (4 Hamal 1403) In this news summary of Radio Azadi’s Pashto service, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica is interviewed about the Taleban’s poppy ban in Afghanistan and who is mostly affected by it – her sequence starts at from 3:03 to 8:08 min.

23 Mar 2024

New Day, New Year: AAN wishes happiness and prosperity to all celebrating Nawruz

AAN Team •

The advent of spring and the arrival of Nawruz brings with it the promise of new beginnings – of life renewed, of resilience and good fortune. As Spring thaws the cold winter soil, it paints the hills and the valleys with its vibrant greens. It perfumes the air with blossoms and decorates the landscape with […]

20 Mar 2024

The Opium Ban: The impact on small farmers, sharecroppers and labourers in Helmand province

Ali Mohammad Sabawoon • Jelena Bjelica •

In what used to be Afghanistan’s largest poppy-growing province, Helmand, cultivation plummeted by 99 per cent in 2023 following the Islamic Emirate’s ban on the crop in April 2022. Although opium trading largely continued, which brought windfall profits to anyone with opium stocks to sell, the ban on cultivation has caused unemployment and an economic […]

14 Mar 2024

Afghanistan’s Taliban push to expand regional influence

Deutsche Welle, 12 March 2024 In this analytical article on Germany’s public foreign broadcaster’s website, dealing with the Taleban’s attempt to expand diplomatic relations, in particular with China, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted as saying: For the Taliban, rapprochement with their neighbors would be a win, said Thomas Ruttig, co-founder of the independent think tank […]

12 Mar 2024

The Azadi Briefing: Afghan laborers and traders say they face increasing visa restrictions in the Gulf states

Radio Azadi, 8 March 2024 The author of the briefing quotes from AAN analysis: According to a January report by the Afghanistan Analysts Network, an independent research organization, none of the Gulf countries, except Oman, currently grant work visas to Afghans.

8 Mar 2024

The Daily Hustle: Waiting in Islamabad for evacuation

Rohullah Sorush • Roxanna Shapour •

When the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan returned to power in August 2021, thousands of Afghans who were working for NGOs left Afghanistan, fearing harassment by Afghanistan’s new rulers, or just taking an opportunity to start a new life elsewhere. Many have already found their way to Europe, the United States, and elsewhere. Others are still […]

8 Mar 2024

The Rawadari Report: Targeted and Extrajudicial Killings Surge Under Taliban Rule

Hasht-e Sobh, 4 March 2024 In this article, the exiled Afghan online newspaper summarises the latest report by the well-respected human rights organisation Rawadari on the human rights situation in Afghanistan during the year 2023. It says the findings indicate that the human rights situation in Afghanistan “has deteriorated in various dimensions. The report states […]

4 Mar 2024

From Doha to Doha: The contest over a UN Special Envoy lingers as discussions and disagreements drag on

Roxanna Shapour •

Afghanistan is back on the world’s agenda. The UN Security Council has met behind closed doors to hear about the recently held United Nations-convened meeting of Special Envoys on Afghanistan in Doha. The current rulers of Afghanistan, the Islamic Emirate, decided not to attend the Doha gathering and are adamantly against the planned appointment of […]

1 Mar 2024