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“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”: First steps in Afghan peace negotiations

With the US-Taleban negotiations in Doha actually addressing how to end the Afghan war, and with first progress being made in the form of an agreed draft framework, Afghanistan seems to be slowly inching beyond the impasse of only ‘talks about talks.’ With this, a peace process has possibly left the starting blocks, but only […]

4 Feb 2019 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Thematic Dossier XV: Daesh in Afghanistan

The terrorist attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul on 31 July 2017 – by a suicide car bomber and three gunmen – has once more directed attention to the activity of local groups that have declared their allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS, also known ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) and its local, Afghan-Pakistani […]

1 Aug 2017 AAN Team • Dossiers

Peace With Hekmatyar: What does it mean for battlefield and politics?

The peace deal signed today by Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, leader of Hezb-e Islami, and President Ashraf Ghani, has been hailed by the Afghan government as the first major peace achievement of the last fifteen years. However, expectations should be tempered. Given Hezb-e Islami’s almost total absence on the battlefield, the deal is unlikely to significantly lower […]

29 Sep 2016 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

More Militias? Part 1: Déjà vu double plus with the proposed ‘Afghan Territorial Army’

The Afghan government and its United States military backers are considering standing up a new militia force, an army version of the Afghan Local Police (ALP) and modelled on the Indian Territorial Army. Officials claim this is their only option if isolated communities are to be protected from insurgents. Human rights groups have reacted with […]

21 Sep 2017 Kate Clark • War and Peace

AAN Q&A: Taleban leader Hebatullah’s new treatise on jihad

Taleban leader Hebatullah Akhundzada has published a book which provides fresh clues about his current concerns and interests. The treatise is largely a collection of quotes from Islamic literature, mostly prophetic sayings, on various aspects of jihad. It contains little of the author’s personal opinions and interpretations. Yet, the choice of themes and sources, the […]

15 Jul 2017 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

Afghanistan’s 2019 Election (7): Dithering over peace amid a lacklustre campaign

One ticket has fallen apart and one candidate has withdrawn his candidacy in favour of another. This has reduced the number of presidential candidates from 18 to 16 and left the two incumbents, President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Dr Abdullah, as the main contenders in the race. In this piece, AAN’s Ali Yawar Adili […]

16 Sep 2019 Ali Yawar Adili • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

The ICC’s Planned Visit to Afghanistan: Crimes, capacities and the willingness to prosecute

A delegation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) is planning to visit Afghanistan in 2016, but the government has hesitated about receiving it. It has established an inter-ministerial committee to ensure the Rome Statute, the treaty establishing the ICC, is finally translated into local languages and published in the official gazette so that the public […]

30 Jun 2016 Ehsan Qaane • Rights and Freedoms

The Cost of Victory: How the Taleban used IEDS to win the war, despite the misgivings of some

During their long and ultimately successful insurgency, the Taleban, like their foreign enemies, were faced with choices over battlefield tactics, between military effectiveness and trying to win over, or at least not alienate, local people. As insurgents, the Taleban were up against well-drilled foreign forces with advanced weaponry and a monopoly on air power, but […]

21 Aug 2022 Sabawoon Samim • War and Peace

Afghanistan’s Foreign Security Detainees: How many are there and what to do with them?

Afghanistan remains an attractive place for international jihadists to come and fight, despite the competing appeal of Syria, Iraq and elsewhere. Since the post-2001 insurgency broke out, foreign fighters have come from Pakistan, Central Asia and the Arab world, some bringing their families. An unknown number have ended up in Afghan detention. More information about […]

30 May 2017 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

ICC Afghanistan Investigation Re-Authorised: But will it cover the CIA, ISKP and the forces of the Islamic Republic, as well as the Taleban?

The judges of the International Criminal Court’s Pre-Trial Chamber II have ruled that the investigation into war crimes related to the conflict in Afghanistan – which was stalled for two and a half years – can be resumed. However, the authorisation relates to “all alleged crimes and actors that were subject to” a request made in […]

11 Nov 2022 Ehsan Qaane • Rights and Freedoms