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Pupils as Pawns: Plundered education in Ghor

Empty classrooms, fake girls’ schools, teachers’ salaries siphoned off by warlords: in Ghor province in Afghanistan’s west, the shadows of strongmen loom large and schools, too, have become pawns in the power struggle between rival factions. AAN’s Obaid Ali has visited this remote, poor and conflict-ridden province and – in this second of three dispatches […]

27 Aug 2013 Obaid Ali • Economy, Development, Environment

Déjà Vu All Over Again: The Af-Pak roller coaster and a possible new Taleban office

Tomorrow, 26 August, President Hamed Karzai is visiting Islamabad; it will be the first visit since February 2012. At the top of the agenda: peace talks – again. In the lead-up to this visit, officials of the two countries spoke of alternatives to the Taleban’s Qatar office. AAN’s Borhan Osman (with input by Thomas Ruttig) […]

25 Aug 2013 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

The Big Maybe: First presidential candidates position themselves

Less than a month before the registration of candidates for the 2014 presidential election opens on 16 September this year, a number of prominent Afghan politicians have positioned themselves as potential candidates. Others are just now making their presence known in public appearances. Several political party councils and opposition alliances still struggle to find a […]

21 Aug 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Poetry in Motion: Love, war and politics on trucks

I am chasing you like a drone You have become al Qaida; there’s no trace of you Trucks painted in vivid colours and lettered with poems like the one above, which has borrowed the terms of war to describe love, are part of the “cultural landscape” along the dusty roads of Afghanistan, especially the south […]

17 Aug 2013 Borhan Osman • Context and Culture

17 September 2013, London: AAN’s Martine van Bijlert at the Frontline Club

The Afghanistan Debate: As the final stage of the withdrawal of foreign troops from Afghanistan begins, the Frontline Club in London will be bringing together leading experts to look at the country’s roadmap and the legacy of the past 12 years. BBC Chief International Correspondent Lyse Doucet will chair the debate, and with other eminent […]

16 Aug 2013 Martine van Bijlert • Events

Land Grabs (2): Deh Sabz, the new and the old

Kuchi nomads on their way to becoming sedentary and foreign and local investors planning a prestigious Kabul New City development project end up competing for the same piece of land. A recent, dramatic fire fight between the Kabul police and the armed supporters of a Kuchi leader in Deh Sabz sounded like an alarm bell […]

15 Aug 2013 Fabrizio Foschini • Rights and Freedoms

Opaque and Dilemma-Ridden: A look back at transition

At its Lisbon summit in November 2010 NATO made “transition” its official strategy for Afghanistan, setting mid-2013 as the time when responsibility for security throughout all of Afghanistan should have been handed over – or “transitioned” – from NATO to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in a process of five phases. This time has […]

12 Aug 2013 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Thematic Dossier I: Looking back at transition

The fifth and last phase of the security handover to Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF), the so called transition, has been announced mid June. This prompts us to look back at the work done on this topic by AAN, starting in 2010. We find that looking at it as a whole allows a unique vantage […]

12 Aug 2013 AAN Team • Dossiers

“I, Mulla Omar”: Two takes on the Taleban leader’s Eid message

It has become a regular exercise by now: Taleban leader Mulla Muhammad Omar addressing “our pious people” on the occasion of religious and national holidays. As this year’s Eid al Fitr message again plays some conciliatory strings – except towards the government in Kabul and its foreign military allies – many have argued that deeds […]

10 Aug 2013 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Happy Eid! And ten stories of celebrations and customs from all over the country

Finally, after a month of dawn-to-sunset fasting, Eid al Fitr approaches, the Feast of the Breaking the Fast. The country will slow down significantly, Afghans take three to seven days off, the men go for Eid prayers, and for once there will be (hopefully) more play than politics. But Eid is more than that. There […]

7 Aug 2013 AAN Team • Context and Culture

Can Kabul Carry Two Melons in One Hand? Afghanistan and Iran sign strategic cooperation document

Almost unnoticed by the international media, Afghanistan and Iran have signed a “Strategic Cooperation Agreement” during President Karzai’s recent trip to Tehran. The document includes provisions on bilateral military, intelligence and economic cooperation. The sequence indicates importance; the agreement is mainly a security agreement. However, it also contains ideas for a number of trilateral extensions […]

6 Aug 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Regional Relations

Safar ba London: Afghan youths on the move

In the last decade, Afghanistan has produced the largest number of asylum seekers in Europe. Many of them are unaccompanied minors. For her doctoral studies, AAN guest author Assunta Nicolini carried out an in-depth study among Afghans migrating to the UK, summarizing some of her findings for this dispatch. She looks at why families decide […]

6 Aug 2013 Assunta Nicolini • Migration

“You Must Have a Gun to Stay Alive”: Ghor, a province with three governments

For many, Ghor is a blank spot on the map. Not much is reported from this large, mountainous province in the west of Afghanistan, but that does not mean it is a quiet place. Thousands of armed men led by criminals and “freelance” commanders, as well as a growing number of Taleban, roam Ghor’s districts. […]

4 Aug 2013 Obaid Ali • War and Peace

The Sane Heartland of Afghanistan: a visit to Ghor’s Lal wa Sarjangal district

Ghor is currently the subject of a series of dispatches by AAN’s Obaid Ali in which he describes the province’s multitudinous problems, not just threats from the Taleban, but also a host of other armed militias, their leaders entangled with the government, fighting each other and predating on the people. The one recurring bright spot […]

4 Aug 2013 Kate Clark • War and Peace

President Rouhani’s Election: Potential impact on Iran’s relations with Afghanistan

On 3 August 2013, Hassan Rouhani, the seventh president of the Islamic Republic of Iran will be officially endorsed by Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei and inaugurated by the Majlis, Iran’s parliament, the following day. AAN Guest Author Bruce Koepke explores the potential impact of his Presidency on Iran’s relations with Afghanistan, in the aftermath […]

2 Aug 2013 Bruce Koepke • Regional Relations

War Intensifies with More Civilian Casualties: the half-yearly UNAMA report

UNAMA’s six monthly report on how civilians are faring in the war (Mid-Year Report on Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict) shows a reversal in last year’s trend of fewer civilian casualties. Comparing the first half of 2013 with the first half of 2012, a fifth more civilians were killed or injured in the fighting. […]

31 Jul 2013 Kate Clark • War and Peace

A Hasty Process: New Independent Election Commission announced

While the passing of the election-related laws took months, the selection and appointment of the crucial new Independent Election Commission (IEC) was finished within days. Although time was pressing, the haste raises doubts about the thoroughness of the process and the balance of the new nine-member body announced on Monday, 29 July 2013. AAN’s analysts […]

30 Jul 2013 Gran Hewad • Martine van Bijlert • Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Mali, Afghanistan – Conflicts Worlds Apart? Parallels and Lessons to be Learnt

When jihadist groups took over the northern half of Mali last year and French troops intervened in January this year, a discussion ensued in the media and among analysts about whether Mali was, or would become, a ‘second’ or ‘African’ Afghanistan. Most found a comparison ludicrous. With Mali’s presidential election coming up on today, 28 […]

28 Jul 2013 Thomas Ruttig • International Engagement

Afghanistan’s New Electoral Laws: Changes and red flags

With last week’s ratification of the two electoral laws, Afghanistan finally knows which laws will govern its upcoming election. The new legislation clarifies how the elections are to be conducted, by whom and how they are to be appointed. Compared to the often tumultuous process that shaped them, the laws are fairly balanced and workable, […]

27 Jul 2013 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

The ‘Other Guantanamo’ 6: Afghans still struggling for sovereignty at Bagram

It is exactly four months since the US military officially handed over its detention facility on Bagram Airbase to the Afghan Ministry of Defence. Whatever agreement was made between the two governments, it has never been made public. However, from speaking to detainees who have been released since the handover, AAN has been able to […]

25 Jul 2013 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms