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AAN Co-director, Thomas Ruttig on Radio France International – May 2018

AAN’s Co-director Thomas Ruttig on Radio France International discussing Helmand Peace Initiative and the on-going peace protest march.

2 May 2018 Thomas Ruttig • Podcasts

An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 3: The legacy of the Saur Revolution’s war crimes

The coup d’etat that brought the People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) was a watershed for Afghanistan, driving it into a conflict from which it has yet to recover and ushering in a whole new level of violence by the state against its citizens. Forced disappearances, the routine use of torture for punishment as well […]

30 Apr 2018 P. Gossman • Context and Culture

Thematic Dossier XVIII: The PDPA and the Soviet Intervention

40 years ago today, the Saur Revolution, as it was called – although it was in reality never anything more than a military coup d’etat – threw Afghanistan into upheaval and subsequently, decades of conflict. To mark the event, we have put together a dossier of AAN dispatches and papers. They include four new dispatches which […]

27 Apr 2018 AAN Team • Dossiers

An April Day that Changed Afghanistan 2: Afghans remember the ‘Saur Revolution’

It is forty years, today, since the coup d’etat which brought the leftist People’s Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA) to power. That event has had far-reaching consequences, plunging the country into a conflict from which it has yet to emerge and changing the course of almost every Afghan’s life. AAN has been speaking to a […]

27 Apr 2018 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

An April Day That Changed Afghanistan 1: Four decades after the leftist takeover

Forty years ago, Afghanistan experienced its second military coup d’état within five years. In the first one, authoritarian President Muhammad Daud had seized power in 1973 without much attention abroad and even little notice in Afghanistan – Daud was a sardar (prince) and seen as just another new king, although he proclaimed a republic. It […]

25 Apr 2018 Thomas Ruttig • Context and Culture

28 April 2018, Frankfurt/M: AAN at The (Afghan) Poetry Project

Since their arrival in Europe, 14 to 18 year old refugees from Afghanistan and Iran have started writing poetry and working with a group of mentors around Spiegel journalist (and Afghanistan correspondent) Susanne Koelbl. The compose verses about mortal fear, foreignness and longing, allowing insight into the experience of war, becoming a refuge and meeting […]

24 Apr 2018 Thomas Ruttig • Events

Going Nationwide: The Helmand peace march initiative

Protests in Helmand calling for a ceasefire and talks between insurgents and government are about to enter their second month. The pro-peace demonstrations which began in what are often described as the Taleban’s ‘southern heartlands’, have been spreading: they can now be found in half of Afghanistan’s provinces and for now, at least, they are […]

23 Apr 2018 Ali Mohammad Sabawoon • War and Peace

AAN on panel: discussing state building in Afghanistan in a global context

With its strategic location Afghanistan has been a focus of global politics for many centuries. Despite its fragile nation-state and conflicting ethnic parties, Afghanistan has managed not to formally cede its sovereignty to a colonial power or break up along ethnic lines. How can we explain this historical development? How does the Afghan state function? […]

20 Apr 2018 Sudhansu Verma • Events

The Afghanistan Election Conundrum (7): A deficient polling centre assessment

A fundamental question ahead of any Afghan election is where polling centres are located. In the past, they have been located in ways that deliberately disenfranchised some voters. New regulations designed to prevent this are aimed at making sure locations are ‘balanced’, ie there are now strict criteria which should ensure centres are near voters, […]

16 Apr 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (6): Another new date for elections

The Independent Election Commission has set 20 October 2018 as the new date for Afghanistan’s parliamentary and district council elections. This comes after two earlier dates were missed. The Commission has also announced that it will start to register voters on Saturday, 14 April 2018. As AAN’s Ali Yawar Adili reports, though, the later date […]

12 Apr 2018 Ali Yawar Adili • Political Landscape