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Ghorband – A Valley Once Friendly

In May, we have been reporting about the deteriorating security situation in Eastern Afghanistan. There, it appears, an ‘insurgency corridor’ has been emerging, through which insurgents ‘will be able to move unhindered from the Pakistani border to Laghman, and from there into Kapisa and Kabul provinces’*. The killing of the Bamian Provincial Council (PC) chairman […]

19 Jul 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Well done, medium or ‘authentic’? – or: Reality is satire

The following piece was published by the AFP. We did not make it up, we swear. Wanted: Afghan butcher class for US special forces AFP, 18/07/2011 WASHINGTON US special forces in Afghanistan are known for taking out militants in stealthy night raids but commanders now want them to learn how to butcher meat and cook […]

19 Jul 2011 AAN • Context and Culture

Guest Blog: Principles Sold-out – A Farewell to Afghanistan

The 2002 Emergency Loya Jirga was more representative then anything seen in Afghanistan in the previous 25 years, writes our guest blogger, but it was sold out to the warlords for a cheap political compromise, argues our guest blogger Jan Malekzade*. Looking back at two stints with the UN, he says farewell to Afghanistan. Afghanistan’s […]

19 Jul 2011 Jan Malekzade • International Engagement

Who was Jan Muhammad Khan?

Another closest Karzai aide killed within five days: after Ahmad Wali Karzai on 12 July, now Jan Muhammad Khan, the former governor and grey eminence of Uruzgan. While the circumstances of the assassinations are distinct (AWK killed by a lone gunman and ostensible friend, JMK by a suicide bomber crew), both men had a lot […]

18 Jul 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Where criminals forgive themselves

The Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSFo) today released a report titled ‘How People Define Violence and Justice in Afghanistan (1958 – 2008)’. Prepared by ACSFo with the funding of the Heinrich-Bӧll-Stiftung, the report provides a valuable insight into Afghans’ perceptions of these two concepts, drawn by their extensive experience of at least the first of […]

17 Jul 2011 Fabrizio Foschini • Rights and Freedoms

Guest Blog: Let’s Remember Afghanistan on International Criminal Justice Day

Last year in Kampala (Uganda), the Assembly of States Parties to the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided to celebrate 17 July as the Day of International Criminal Justice, to commemorate the adoption of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (adopted 1998). As we celebrate International Criminal Justice Day, Ajmal Pashtoonyar* takes the opportunity […]

17 Jul 2011 Ajmal Pashtoonyar • Rights and Freedoms

BREAKING NEWS: BAMIAN HANDED BACK TO AFGHANISTAN

The BBC has just been reporting that NATO has handed over the security responsibility for Bamian province to the Afghan government. It has bee a big secret – no one has told us in advance. In what was a highly classified operation, NATO/ISAF has handed over the security responsibility for the Central Afghan province of […]

17 Jul 2011 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Dad Noorani, critic of warlordism, passed away

Wednesday night, Dad Noorani, one of Afghanistan’s best political analysts and most courageous journalists, succumbed to a heart attack. AAN’s Thomas Ruttig commemorates the determined opponent of warlordism and defender of the rule of law. Born in Farah in 1956, Dad* Noorani – he also used the first name Paghar – studied medicine at Kabul University […]

14 Jul 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Guest Blog: Electricity Matters

The often still poor socio-economic situation rarely makes the headlines which are dominated by stories about attacks like the ones on Kabul Interconti hotel and Ahmad Wali Karzai. But it is a scandal that Mazar-e Sharif, one of Afghanistan’s major cities, still has one to three hours of electricity per day after ten years of […]

14 Jul 2011 Abdul Latif Sahak • Khan Mohammad Danishju • Economy, Development, Environment

Guest Blog: The Enteqal 7 – Fear in the valley of the Five Lions

The starting handover of security responsibility to the Afghan government, reports about talks with the Taleban and a feeling of alienation are contributing to a sense of increasing fear in the Panjshir valley, a stronghold of anti-Taleban reisstance. Our guest blogger Sayed Salahuddin* looks at the background, both in history and current events. The handover […]

13 Jul 2011 Sayed Salahuddin • War and Peace