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A Bridge for the Taleban? Harakat, a former mujahedin party, leaps back into action

Harakat-e Inqilab-e Islami, one of the formerly most important mujahedin parties (tanzim) that had kept a low profile after 2001, is more visibly returning to the Afghan political scene. With a publicity campaign, it is presenting itself as the party of the religious scholars, with a history distinct from other Muslim Brotherhood-inspired tanzim, and offers itself […]

14 Dec 2015 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Afghanistan Breaking Bad: Crystal meth, a new drug on the market

The first methamphetamine seizure in Afghanistan was recorded in 2008, a minor capture of four grams in Helmand province. Now, seven years later, some 17 kilograms of methamphetamine, popularly known as ‘crystal meth’, were seized in the first ten months of 2015, in 14 out of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces. The Ministry of Counter Narcotics warned […]

7 Dec 2015 Jelena Bjelica • Economy, Development, Environment

Finding Business Opportunity in Conflict: Shopkeepers, Taleban and the political economy of Andar district

Even in times of war, people still need to buy food and other essentials and shopkeepers still need to sell. But when frontlines shift and military masters change – due to insurgency, uprising or rising government power – how can shopkeepers react to try to survive the situation? Indeed, how can they try to find […]

2 Dec 2015 Fazl Rahman Muzhary • War and Peace

Before the Paris Conference: The state of Afghanistan’s climate and its adaption capability

Climate change is already having a severe impact on Afghans’ daily lives – but this challenge is often over-shadowed by what seem to be more-urgent problems: war and the economic crisis. Therefore, the reports submitted by the Afghan government for the Paris climate conference starting today, 30 November 2015 (and President Ashraf Ghani speaking in […]

30 Nov 2015 Thomas Ruttig • Ryskeldi Satke • Economy, Development, Environment

Ripping Up the Rule Book? US investigation into the MSF hospital attack

The commander of US and NATO forces in Afghanistan, General John Campbell, has said the deadly air strike on the Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) hospital in Kunduz in the early hours of 3 October 2015 was “a direct result of avoidable human error compounded by process and equipment failures.” The US military investigation, moreover, found […]

27 Nov 2015 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Toward Fragmentation? Mapping the post-Omar Taleban

The Taleban movement has entered its third decade with infighting threatening its – up till now ­– remarkable unity. The killing of Mansur Dadullah during clashes between Taleban factions in Zabul on 12 November 2015 highlighted the scope of this unprecedented discord. Dadullah had been deputy leader of a newly-formed, breakaway faction of the Taleban. […]

24 Nov 2015 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

The Afghan Government and th­e ‘Smart City’ Debacle: Who out-smarted whom?

The Afghan government, much to its chagrin, has found itself embroiled in a controversy that has direct links to the 2010 Kabul Bank scandal. On 4 November 2015, a small group of high-level government officials presided over the stone-laying ceremony of a new and ambitious township called Smart City. What was meant as a good […]

21 Nov 2015 Martine van Bijlert • Economy, Development, Environment

“One Year’s Result is Not a Trend”: the 2015 opium cultivation decrease

The decline (by almost a fifth) in the area of land in Afghanistan planted with opium poppy in 2015 came as a surprise to many. Poppy cultivation in Afghanistan had been on the rise since 2010, when an opium poppy blight halved opium production and triggered a subsequent hike in opium prices. However, the decline […]

18 Nov 2015 Jelena Bjelica • Economy, Development, Environment

The Crowded-Out Conflict: Pakistan’s Balochistan in its fifth round of insurgency

In the international discussion on Pakistan´s many problems, the low-level conflict in its Balochistan province does not get much attention. The issue of nuclear arms, for instance, is considered more immediately frightening; Balochistan is just the area where these arms are tested. But the province is also the arena for a long-standing, complex and multi-faceted […]

16 Nov 2015 Ann Wilkens • Regional Relations

Quarter of a Century of War in Pictures: In conversation with Robert Nickelsberg – October, 2015

In conversation with Time magazine contract photographer Robert Nickelsberg, who has been visiting the Afghanistan since 1988, catching moments on film that are variously historic, unsettling and tender.

16 Nov 2015 AAN Guests • Podcasts

An “Afghan Exodus” (1): Facts, figures, trends

The on-going “exodus” of Afghans – now the second largest group entering the EU – has contributed to the increasing refugee numbers across Europe. This, in turn, has led to heated debates and an increased political polarisation between pro- and anti-refugee movements and parties. As governments and citizens struggle to handle the influx of refugees, […]

14 Nov 2015 Thomas Ruttig • Migration

The ‘Zabul Seven’ Protests: Who speaks for the victims?

On 11 November 2015, Kabul witnessed probably one of the largest demonstrations in recent history. The trigger was the slaughter of seven Hazara travellers who had been taken hostage in Zabul province about a month ago. The demonstration, which continued well into the night, became an amalgam of emotions and agendas: grief and horror over […]

12 Nov 2015 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

MSF Investigation: US hospital strike looking more like a war crime

A preliminary investigation by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) into the United States airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz on 3 October, which killed at least 30 people, has raised some serious questions. Fresh evidence suggests statements made by US officials in the first few days after the attack were false. It also makes clear how […]

10 Nov 2015 Kate Clark • War and Peace

A 36-Year Wait for Justice? Dutch arrest suspected Afghan war criminal

The Dutch police have arrested an Afghan Dutchman on suspicion of war crimes. Sadeq Alamyar has been accused of involvement in one of the worst atrocities of the Afghan war: the killing of hundreds of men and boys in the village of Kerala in Kunar province by an elite unit, on the night of 19-20 […]

1 Nov 2015 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Homeless and Unwanted: How Kabul’s drug users are driven from place to place

The 2015 summer campaign to push drug users out from under the bridge in Pol-e Sokhta and close the ‘addict town’ there has turned into a public spectacle with groups of drug addicts being herded around by the police. Complaints by the surrounding community had forced the police to act, resulting in the partial dispersal of […]

29 Oct 2015 Jelena Bjelica • Qayoom Suroush • Rights and Freedoms

Attack on the Opposition in Tajikistan: Afghan concerns and comparisons

Despite its 1300 kilometre-long border with Tajikistan, Afghanistan is rarely worried by the internal political strife and occasional violence to its north. The situation is, however, worsening. The Dushanbe government’s relentless attack on its domestic political (non-military) opposition, including the Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRPT), threatens to undo the relative peace and prosperity of […]

25 Oct 2015 Christian Bleuer • Regional Relations

The 2015 insurgency in the North (4): Surrounding the cities in Baghlan

During the recent two week Taleban occupation of Kunduz city, the strong insurgent presence in the province immediately to the south, Baghlan, was of huge importance to the insurgents. By blocking the key north-south road which goes through the heart of the province, they prevented ANA reinforcements from the capital from reaching Kunduz for several days. The movement […]

21 Oct 2015 Gran Hewad • War and Peace

Quarter of a Century of War in Pictures: Exhibition at ACKU

An exhibition of war photographs taken in Afghanistan over the last quarter of a century is currently showing at the Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University and will thereafter be available in its archive. American photographer Robert Nickelsberg has been visiting the country since 1988, catching moments on film that are variously historic, unsettling and tender. […]

18 Oct 2015 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

The 2015 Insurgency in the North (3): The fall and recapture of Kunduz

It took 15 days of fierce fighting for Afghan government forces and their US allies to push the Taleban back out of Kunduz city. Clashes continue in the surrounding districts. The Taleban onslaught on 28 September should not have come as a surprise, given how much territory in the province the group was already controlling. […]

16 Oct 2015 Obaid Ali • War and Peace

Kafka in Cuba 3: Afghan who wore the wrong type of watch to be released from Guantanamo

One of the eight Afghans still detained at Guantanamo Bay, Mohammad Kamin, has been cleared for release after a new review board assessed it was no longer necessary to detain him. Kamin, now in his late 30s and from Khost, has been incarcerated for 12 years, a third of his life. The United States believed […]

11 Oct 2015 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms