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Land Grabs in Afghanistan (1): Nangrahar, the disputed o-rangeland

In the last ten years, land disputes have become a permanent feature of Afghanistan’s landscape. Always influenced by the misuse of state power, often bursting into open conflicts, sometimes getting into the limelight usually reserved for political violence, they are very seldom addressed properly by the government. Also highlighted by recent accusations by the High […]

16 Jun 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Economy, Development, Environment

Upcoming Regional Co-operation Conference on Afghanistan: A Primer

Regional co-operation on Afghanistan has so far remained by and large confined to meeting rooms and conference halls. One of these gatherings is set to take place in Kabul on 14 June 2012. The ‘Heart of Asia Ministerial Conference in Kabul’ is focused on ‘The Istanbul Process: A New Agenda for Regional Co-operation.’ The Afghan […]

13 Jun 2012 S Reza Kazemi • Regional Relations

Plants of Afghanistan 2: the Koh-e Baba Foraging Top Ten (amended)

Wild rhubarb (chukri or rawash) is surely one of the delights of the Afghan spring. Like many forage plants, rhubarb is both a delicacy in the cities, and an important food for those living in rural areas. As the winter snow melts, the rhubarb rhizome produces stems which can be plucked and eaten raw while […]

11 Jun 2012 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

Plants of Afghanistan 1: Centre of Global Biodiversity

Among the hundreds of containers bound for Afghanistan which were impounded for over a year at Karachi docks because of a trade dispute were copies of a ground-breaking book on Afghanistan’s plants. S W Breckle and M D Rafiqpoor’s Field Guide Afghanistan: Flora and Vegetation, (1) is unique, the result of decades of work by […]

10 Jun 2012 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

Good Muslims, Bad Muslims? Solidarity Party Threatened by Ban (amended)

A small but vocal leftist political party has challenged the consensus about the ‘good jehad’, pointing to human rights violations of some of its leaders, and earned the ire of them. After initial calls for an immediate ban, the authorities have suspended the party’s activities, pending an investigation. How they will handle this case will […]

8 Jun 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Another Hezb-e Islami U-Turn – with more to follow? (amended)

When the second largest insurgent group, Hezb-e Islami (1), suspended talks with the Afghan government, three weeks ago, it cited dissatisfaction with the signing of the US-Afghan Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) on 1 May 2012. Kabul has now gone public, accusing Hezb-e Islami of telling it a different story immediately after the talks, which were […]

7 Jun 2012 Gran Hewad • Political Landscape

New Battles and Old Wants in Nuristan

The killing of the deputy shadow governor of the Taleban for Nuristan, apparently in a drone strike on his native village of Amshuz, Waygal district, represents just the last chapter in what has already been a rather intense fighting season in the province for two months. A perennial candidate for insurgent takeover, Nuristan witnessed some […]

2 Jun 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

Happy Christmas (2014), Will War Be Over?

The spin from Chicago is working. Many media reported that the war in Afghanistan will be over and Western troops gone by 2014. Apparently, they did not get President Obama’s full message that was much more subtle: that the war ‘as we know it’ will be over. It will change its character and the new […]

25 May 2012 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

The Other Guantanamo 2: the Afghan State begins Internment

Sources involved in the handover of Bagram detention facility from the United States to Afghanistan have told AAN that the Afghan state was due to start ruling on the internment of its own citizens there on 22 May 2012. The use of the US system of detention without trial by the Afghan government is probably […]

23 May 2012 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

The Mulla Dadullah Front: A search for clues

A Mulla Dadullah Front has claimed responsibility for assassinating the High Peace Council member, Mawlawi Arsala Rahmani, on 13 May. Some in the media, as well as the Afghan authorities have picked up on the claim – and some alleged members of the Front have been arrested. Although this is not actually the first sighting […]

22 May 2012 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace