Search results

AAN Q&A: Taleban leader Hebatullah’s new treatise on jihad

Taleban leader Hebatullah Akhundzada has published a book which provides fresh clues about his current concerns and interests. The treatise is largely a collection of quotes from Islamic literature, mostly prophetic sayings, on various aspects of jihad. It contains little of the author’s personal opinions and interpretations. Yet, the choice of themes and sources, the […]

15 Jul 2017 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

AAN Q&A: An established industry – Basic facts about Afghanistan’s opium-driven economy

Afghanistan’s unflattering label – the world’s leading producer of opium and its derivatives, morphine and heroin – has proved hard to remove. Over the last ten years, opium cultivation has increased steadily reaching unprecedented highs, whilst eradication levels have been decreasing and the country has slowly slid into more severe poverty. To see where Afghanistan […]

11 Jul 2017 Jelena Bjelica • Economy, Development, Environment

New Taleban Attacks in Kunduz: Less coordinated, still well-placed to threaten the city

In early July 2017, the Taleban carried out several simultaneous attacks against the Afghan security forces in Kunduz province, in an attempt to, once again, inch closer to the provincial centre. The attacks were less coordinated and sustained than they had been in the past years (including in 2015 when Kunduz fell and in 2016 […]

9 Jul 2017 Obaid Ali • War and Peace

Update on the Afghan Local Police: Making sure they are armed, trained, paid and exist

The Afghan Local Police (ALP) emerged out of an American special forces’ project to establish ‘community defence forces’ in 2009 and 2010. Despite being viewed by many as ‘militias in uniform’, the ALP has survived and grown to become a significant part of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), present in all but three of […]

5 Jul 2017 Kate Clark • War and Peace

From ‘Traditionalist’ Islam to ‘Modern’ Islamist Nationalism: A new AAN report about ideology in the Afghan Taleban

The Taleban’s ideology has transformed over the past two decades. While the movement once typified a ‘traditionalist’ Islam – that is, it sought to articulate and defend a particular concept of Islam found in southern Pashtun villages – it is now, in its insurgency phase, closer to forms of political Islam espoused in the Arab […]

29 Jun 2017 Alex Strick-Van-Linschoten • Political Landscape

Ideology in the Afghan Taliban: A new AAN report

The Taleban’s ideology has transformed over the past two decades. While the movement once typified a ‘traditionalist’ Islam – that is, it sought to articulate and defend a particular concept of Islam found in southern Pashtun villages – it is now, in its insurgency phase, closer to forms of political Islam espoused in the Arab […]

29 Jun 2017 Alex Strick-Van-Linschoten • Anand Gopal • Special Reports

Berlin, 5 July 2017: Book presentation with AAN

“A Society of Intervention: An essay about about conflicts in Afghanistan and other military interventions” – this is the title of a new book by Michael Daxner, Professor of Sociology, Freie Universität Berlin, former advisor to the Afghan Minister of Higher Education and prolific author on Afghanistan. It will be presented at the Berlin office […]

29 Jun 2017 Thomas Ruttig • Events

Investigating Post-2003 War crimes: Afghan Government wants “one more year” from the ICC

The ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) announced on 14 November 2016 that it would “imminently” make its final decision whether to ask the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber for authorisation to open an investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed since Afghanistan signed the ICC statute in 2003. The Afghan government, however, has asked […]

27 Jun 2017 Ehsan Qaane • Rights and Freedoms

In the Light of the Conflict: Photographer Andrew Quilty’s experience in Afghanistan

Afghanistan has been an inspiration for many photographers, but very few opt to base themselves in a war-torn country. Andrew Quilty, an Australian photojournalist, is an exception: he came to Afghanistan in 2013 and has been based in Kabul since. Many remember his haunting photographs taken in the ruins of the Kunduz hospital, a week […]

25 Jun 2017 AAN • Jelena Bjelica • Context and Culture

AAN Q&A: Tents and Bullets – the crackdown on the Kabul protests

The last of at least seven tents that protestors had set up in Kabul – after the horrific 31 May bomb attack and in protest against police brutality used during a march they organised on 2 June 2017 – has been removed. Afghan police forces dismantled it late in the evening of Monday, 19 June […]

23 Jun 2017 AAN Team • Political Landscape