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ATTACK ON KABUL INTERCONTI (updated)

A group of six armed insurgents has stormed into Kabul Interconti hotel around 10 pm on 28 June. Around 22.40 local time, we heard a loud single explosion, followed by police cars with sirens approaching the area and heavy but sporadic small arms fire. The group resisted until 4.40 in the morning; the last three […]

28 Jun 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Guest Blog: Electoral Reform Must Start Now

With the controversy between the Wolesi Jirga and the Special Election Court still continuing and throwing Afghanistan’s legislative into disarray, our guest blogger Grant Kippen(*) pleads for long-overdue election reform starting and bold steps now. There were two momentous announcements concerning Afghanistan this past week that will in their own and interconnected way have a […]

28 Jun 2011 Grant Kippen • Political Landscape

Khas Uruzgan violence and ISAF press releases

About ten days ago I received news of a nightly ALP raid in Khas Uruzgan, that had resulted in one death, four detainees, several severe beatings, some plunder and a fair amount of local anger. So when I spotted an ISAF press release about a meeting in the district, I assumed it was related to […]

26 Jun 2011 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

Special Court Suggests to Change 62 MPs: The Outgoing and The Outcome (amended)

Herewith, we continue to report the changes in the Wolesi Jirga composition which would happen if the Special Election Court’s findings presented on Thursday would be implemented – which is not sure. Today, we present the final list of those MPs who would need to leave the house. Gran Hewad and Obaid Ali have put […]

26 Jun 2011 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Leaving Afghanistan: Where’s The Progress?

Along with other Afghanistan watchers, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig has been asked to comment on President Obama’s announcement of a partial troop withdrawal by Foreign Policy Magazine and the FP-related AfPakChannel. Please read a synthesis of both articles here*. The announcement of the troop drawdown by President Obama last night will not change the military balance […]

24 Jun 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Special Court Suggests to Change 62 MPs: The Incoming (amended)

This Thursday, when President Barack Obama announced the withdrawal of 10,000 US troops by the end of the year and of 23,000 more by September 2012, Afghanistan actually was preoccupied with things domestic. The saga of the parliamentary elections of September 2010 saw a new chapter opened, and it is far from clear whether we […]

23 Jun 2011 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Who cares about the Kuchi-Hazara conflict, nowadays?

Having lost hope of not witnessing outbursts of Kuchi-Hazara related violence at least for this year, AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini reports on the recent conflict in Ghazni province, on the situation in neighbouring areas, and a perceived lack of interest on the matter on part of the government and the mass media. It looked as if […]

23 Jun 2011 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

Guest Blog: Ruling from the Mezzanine – the Balkh case

The debate about the role of former commanders and warlords in the Afghan statehood and its regions, about whether they might integrate into the ‘new’ Afghanistan, become civilised by playing (in) the institutions as well as about what that means for the country’s direction is as controversial as inconclusive. Our guest blogger Michael Daxner* looks […]

21 Jun 2011 Michael Daxner • War and Peace

… and now: Eikenberry’s Reply

President Karzai’s speech of 18 June, in which he called the US – amongst other things – ‘occupiers’ that ‘have not built the roads for us but for themselves’, has obviously hit a raw nerve. Karl Eikenberry, the US Ambassador in Kabul, gave a ‘surprisingly emotional response’ (The AfPakChannel) in Herat on Sunday which might […]

21 Jun 2011 Thomas Ruttig • International Engagement

The IMF, Kabul Bank, government salaries and transition (updated)

The IMF and the Afghan government failed to reach an agreement last week on how to deal with the Kabul Bank crisis. The long-simmering controversy, which began months ago, is starting to have far-reaching consequences both for the cash-flow of the Afghan government and for the possible nature of the transition, as donors are making […]

20 Jun 2011 Martine van Bijlert • Economy, Development, Environment