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A New Taleban Front?

The Taleban successfully have infiltrated Northern and Northeastern Afghanistan and destabilised certain areas, mainly in Kunduz province. Now, there are signs that they might attempt to push forward into mainly Hazara-settled areas the central region. The main road into Jaghori, an important Hazara area, has been blocked raising fears of a new economic blockade or […]

18 Jun 2010 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Reviewing prisoners after the peace jirga

AAN has learned that a new committee to review security prisoners – as called for by the peace jirga and decreed by the president on 5 June – has been set up and has held its first meetings. Member and spokesperson for the committee, Professor Nasrullah Stanekzai, told AAN the committee was currently getting lists […]

16 Jun 2010 Kate Clark • War and Peace

Congratulations, Francesc!

The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) conveys its best wishes to Ambassador Francesc Vendrell, Chairman of its Advisory Board, former Special Representative of the UN and the EU to and in Afghanistan, on the occasion of his 70th birthday. Find below some of his selected statement, predictions, warnings – and also some regrets for misjudgements. General […]

15 Jun 2010 Thomas Ruttig • International Engagement

Freeing the Prisoners Blog 2: Protecting the Innocent?

An unknown number of Afghans are being held in custody suspected of being Taleban or convicted of insurgency-related crimes. Complaints about wrongful arrest, detention without trial, torture and a justice system where influence and money count for more than guilt or innocence are rife – and, of course, not limited to security prisoners. President Karzai’s […]

13 Jun 2010 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Freeing the Prisoners Blog 1: Letting the Guilty Go Free?

When the Afghan intelligence boss, Amrullah Saleh, said he could not, in all conscience, carry on in his post if it entailed “negotiating with suicide bombers” he became the first person to take a principled, stand against the way Afghan policy on the Taleban is developing. Saleh is particularly opposed to freeing Taleban prisoners. Yet […]

11 Jun 2010 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

GUEST BLOG: The Story of ‘M’: US-Dutch Shouting Matches in Uruzgan

In a reply to a recent article in the New York Times, our guest author discusses different approaches of how different NATO countries deal with what could be labeled ‘allied illegitimate armed groups’. By Bette Dam (*) Last weekend the New York Times wrote an interesting pieceabout the head of a private army in Uruzgan province, Matiullah Khan, […]

10 Jun 2010 Bette Dam • International Engagement

More on the resignation of Atmar and Saleh – and who might replace them

The repercussions of the sacking/resignation of two of the president’s three top security officials on Sunday are still sinking in, along with the President’s decree that the status of Taleban prisoners must be reviewed. These major changes on security follow his proclaimed success in demonstrating ‘national unity’ at the peace jirga. Despite the tent being […]

7 Jun 2010 Kate Clark • Political Landscape

The resignation of Atmar and Saleh; early thoughts

After what is reported to have been a day of rather heated discussions, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and head of the National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh have handed in their resignation. President Karzai swiftly accepted and has already appointed their deputies, Munir Mangal and Engineer Ibrahim, as acting heads. The palace announced that the […]

6 Jun 2010 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Has a Two-Party System Now

No, this is not a joke. It really has one, at least for a couple of days. Yesterday, 15 Jauza (5 June), was the last day for Afghanistan’s parties to re-register, as required by a law. The MoJ official responsible for party registration confirmed to AAN’s Kabul office that all the old licenses are invalid […]

6 Jun 2010 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

The Peace Jirga in tweets

There has been some formidable twitter reporting going from inside the peace jirga tent, particularly during today’s plenary session. AAN has been following @Hairan and @WazhmaFrogh and has collected all the tweets, for the record. They are blow-by-blow accounts of the group presentations and the speeches by Rabbani, Sayyaf and President Karzai, delivered in the […]

4 Jun 2010 Wazhma Frogh • Political Landscape