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10 May 2011: New AAN Report – The Takhar Attack

The targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden has given a boost to those in the US who believe this is also an effective strategy to defeat – or at least degrade – the Taleban in Afghanistan. This new AAN thematic report, by senior analyst Kate Clark, warns against this strategy, stressing that the legality of […]

10 May 2011 AAN • admin • Events

The Enteqal Seven (2): Around Mehtarlam, an ‘insurgency corridor’ in the making

The start of the Taleban spring offensive is not stopping preparations that are on track for the announced transfer of security to Afghan forces, beginning in July. In the Eastern region, however, besides the scheduled transition in Mehtarlam district of Laghman, a much more problematic development can be witnessed, as US troops that abandon positions […]

10 May 2011 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

The Takhar attack: Targeted killings and the parallel worlds of US intelligence and Afghanistan

The targeted killing of Osama Bin Laden has given a boost to those in the US who believe this is also an effective strategy to defeat – or at least degrade – the Taleban in Afghanistan. This new AAN thematic report, by senior analyst Kate Clark, warns against this strategy, stressing that the legality of […]

10 May 2011 Kate Clark • Special Reports

Ahmed Rashid in Berlin: Transition before a political settlement ‘is absurd’

Earlier today, Ahmed Rashid participated in a Chatham House-ruled podium in Berlin about ‘Afghanistan on the Road to Bonn: Impacts of a Region in Change’. Of course, the event was overshadowed by the recent killing of OBL in Abbottabad, which has created some optimism for an opening political solution in Afghanistan amongst participants, and Ahmed […]

9 May 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

5 May 2011 New AAN Report: The Insurgents of the Afghan North

In this new AAN report, released on 5 May 2011, Antonio Giustozzi and Christoph Reuter turn their sights on the Afghan North again. They describe the rise of the Taleban in the seven northern provinces, discuss their recruitment and shadow administration, and explore the effects of the conduct of the Afghan government and of ISAF’s […]

5 May 2011 AAN • admin • Events

The Insurgents of the Afghan North

In this report Antonio Giustozzi and Christoph Reuter describe the rise of the Taleban in northern Afghanistan. They discuss their recruitment and shadow administration, the conduct of the Afghan government, the effects of ISAF’s ‘capture-and-kill campaign’ and how all of this together contributes to a very unstable status quo. Until recently, the belief was widespread […]

5 May 2011 Antonio Giustozzi • Christoph Reuter • Special Reports

Al-Qaeda headless – Taleban unaltered

The symbiotic relationship between al-Qaeda and the Taleban had been over-emphasised. Therefore, the impact on them by OBL’s death will remain limited, argues AAN’s Thomas Ruttig – in part 2 of a series of still raw thoughts on the Abbottabad raid. ‘Bin Laden had mostly taken on a symbolic role and his removal doesn’t directly […]

3 May 2011 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

The Kabul Bank Investigations; Central Bank Gives Names and Figures

On Wednesday, 27 April 2011, the head of Afghanistan’s Central Bank, Abdul Qadir Fitrat, and the new (Central Bank appointed) chief of the Kabul Bank, Massud Ghazi, briefed the Parliament on what was going on with the Kabul Bank. They named names, gave detail of the close to one billion USD irregular loans that brought […]

2 May 2011 Martine van Bijlert • Economy, Development, Environment

The Afghan War without Osama – seven boiled-down thoughts

So what to add to the cacophony of opinion and analysis that has already filled the airwaves and the internet? Some thoughts, boiled down to their very basic bottom-line. I don’t think the death of bin Laden will directly impact the fighting capabilities of any of the parties engaged in the war in Afghanistan. I […]

2 May 2011 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

27 April 2011: First AAN Occasional Paper on Mahmud Tarzi and the Wesh Zalmian movement

This paper of its senior Analysts Thomas Ruttig represents the opening of AAN’s new series of occasional papers. It addresses the influence of the thoughts of Afghan nationalist and moderniser Mahmud Tarzi (1865-1933), foreign minister under reformer-king Amanullah (1919-29), on Afghanistan’s 1940/50s pro-democratic opposition movement, the Wesh Zalmian (Awakened Youth). Mahmud Tarzi and the movement […]

27 Apr 2011 AAN • admin • Events