Search results

A Delicate Balance: The regional puzzle surrounding Pakistan’s decision to stay out of Yemen

Power relations and cooperation patterns are changing around Afghanistan. Its two most intrusive neighbours, Pakistan and Iran, are both at a stage where long-set behaviour seems to be tilting in different directions, with linkages to China (in the case of Pakistan) and the USA (in the case of Iran). At the same time, Pakistan and […]

25 May 2015 Ann Wilkens • Sudhansu Verma • Regional Relations

Thematic Dossier IX: Birds in Afghanistan

It had started out as a grey, rainy week in Kabul – just perfect for birdwatchers. Birds flying north, sometimes thousands of kilometres on their spring migrations, are more likely to land in the green trees of the Afghan capital when the weather is bad. This week, AAN’s Kate Clark has been woken by the […]

23 May 2015 AAN Team • Dossiers

Police Treated With Kid Gloves: The many flaws of the Farkhunda trial

An Afghan court has found 11 policemen guilty of dereliction of duty for failing to prevent the murder of religious student Farkhunda by a mob in the centre of Kabul on 19 March 2015. They were all sentenced to one year, the absolute minimum, which means also they may not have to go to jail […]

21 May 2015 Ehsan Qaane • Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

The Park Palace Attack: More losses for Afghanistan (updated with a list of the dead)

The Taleban attack on a Kabul guesthouse which killed 15 people (not 14, as earlier reports said) on 13 May 2015 was aimed, the Taleban claimed, at “invaders”, specifically an “important meeting” of “important people from many invading countries, especially Americans.” In this update of our earlier dispatch, AAN’s Kate Clark identifies all the dead: […]

14 May 2015 Kate Clark • War and Peace

A Half-Solution: Provincial Councils get oversight authority back – for the time being

Instead of being resolved, the long power struggle between parliament and the Provincial Councils (PC) about how much and what kind of authority the councils would have has entered a new round in 2015 – with no end in sight. In 2014, under the previous president, a new law was designed to solve this issue. […]

12 May 2015 Ehsan Qaane • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on Recent Fighting in Kuduz – May, 2015

AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on MDR Info Radio on recent fighting in Kuduz.

9 May 2015 Thomas Ruttig • Podcasts

Covering for Each Other in Zanabad: The defiant widows of the hill

On top of a hill in Kabul’s southeast is a unique community. It is locally known as Zanabad (“Women’s Town”) and has survived all turmoil of the last decades. A group of widows started building homes there for themselves as far back as the 1990s. Initially, the people of the neighbouring communities looked down on […]

7 May 2015 Naheed Esar Malikzay • Rights and Freedoms

Two new external publications: The Afghan conflict, the Afghan civil society

1 – An anthology of articles about the Afghan conflict (in German): „The Great Unrest: Afghanistan and its neighbours” is the title of an anthology of articles (all in German) that has been published today by Edition Le Monde diplomatique in cooperation with Berlin daily Tageszeitung (taz). It includes articles that have been published in […]

5 May 2015 Thomas Ruttig • External publications

Thematic Dossier VIII: The evolution of insecurity in Kunduz

In the last week, the Taleban launched their second large-scale assault on Kunduz in six months and came close to taking the provincial capital, Kunduz City, before being pushed back by Afghan National Security Forces. For the Taleban, Kunduz is probably the key province in the north, the last to be left in 2001 and […]

3 May 2015 AAN Team • Dossiers

ANSF Wrong-Footed: The Taleban offensive in Kunduz

The Taleban’s first major onslaught in their ‘spring offensive’ this year took the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) by surprise. But after a few days, they were able to react and push the insurgents back in some areas while the latter held their ground in others. Although the ANSF kept control over Kunduz city and […]

3 May 2015 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace