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The Making of Another ‘Uprising’: The ALP in Panjwayi

The US government and US media are upbeat about a new ‘uprising’ against the Taleban in its heartland in Kandahar. Such a revolt in Panjwayi district would be of particular importance given the area’s status as the birthplace of the Taleban leadership. AAN’s Borhan Osman who has travelled to the area finds, however, that what […]

22 Apr 2013 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

Operation Resolute Restraint: The German Troop Offer for Post-2014

The German government has surged ahead by offering concrete troop numbers for the ISAF successor mission to begin in January 2015. What is sold as taking the lead is mainly dictated by domestic considerations (general elections in September) and the urge to stay in the comparatively calm north of Afghanistan to avoid casualties. AAN’s Senior […]

20 Apr 2013 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Now ‘Informal’, Soon Illegal? Political parties’ existence threatened again (amended)

The Afghan government has started another attempt to make life difficult for the country’s political parties. One year after a disputed re-registration of all parties ended, it threatens them now with suspension because, it says, none of them have a sufficient presence in the required minimum number of provinces as stipulated in a by-law to […]

16 Apr 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Pre-Electoral Consultations: the palace is looking for a new IEC head

On 9 April 2013 the President called a broad consultative meeting to discuss the selection of a new IEC chairman. The tumultuous term of the current head, Fazl Ahmad Manawi, ends this coming week. The main opposition representatives publicly declined the invitation, terming the meeting illegal, while others – including the generally pro-Karzai jihadi leaders […]

13 Apr 2013 Martine van Bijlert • Political Landscape

Summoning the Ministers: parliament damages its own image

At a time when President Karzai’s last turn in office is getting closer to its end, the Afghan parliament has been turning up the pressure on the cabinet. It was not the first time MPs had summoned ministers to answer inquiries about their performance, with the threat of voting them out of office. This time, […]

11 Apr 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Gran Hewad • Political Landscape

Is the Taleban Insurgency a Holy or an Unholy War? An Afghan-Pakistani ulema debate

The Pakistani ulema were never particularly vocal supporters of the current Taleban’s insurgency in Afghanistan until the Afghan government approached them to talk about peace. Or at least their support had not been expressed publicly before. Then one Pakistani mulla, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, head of the Pakistan Ulema Council, made such controversial remarks about suicide […]

9 Apr 2013 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

11 April 2013, Copenhagen: Conference ‘Afghanistan Towards 2014′ with AAN participation

The Danish Institute for International Studies (DIIS) in partnership with the Danish Ministry of Foreign Affairs is organising a one-day conference with the title ‘Afghanistan Towards 2014 ─ Prospects for Development, Security and a National Political Settlement’ on 11 April 2013 in the Danish Parliament in Copenhagen. Apart from other prominent participants – among them […]

8 Apr 2013 AAN Team • Events

Security at the Fringes: the case of Shujai in Khas Uruzgan

The build-up of the formal Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is one of the main pillars of the transition strategy. However, in practice many security responsibilities are, and will continue to be, held by a myriad of hybrid and auxiliary forces that often operate under unclear lines of authority. Observers and media have been describing […]

6 Apr 2013 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

The Qatar Office Conundrum: Karzai’s quest for control over Taleban talks

During President Karzai’s recent visit to Qatar, discussions about a possible Taleban office were high on the agenda, and the visit had been charged with expectations in advance. Surprisingly, not much has been officially publicised about its outcome after the president returned home. AAN’s Senior Analyst Thomas Ruttig tries to make sense of the trip […]

5 Apr 2013 Thomas Ruttig • War and Peace

Elections or National Consensus: Which one wins?

The complexity of Afghanistan’s political spectrum and the traditionally overwhelming desire of Afghan leaders to keep power are major elements that have an effect on whether the political transition process – which continues simultaneous with the transition of security responsibilities – will be democratic. The ballot stuffing in the 2009 presidential and 2010 parliamentarian elections […]

4 Apr 2013 Gran Hewad • Political Landscape

The Morphing of the Andar Uprising: Transition to Afghan Local Police

The much-publicised anti-Taleban ‘uprising’ in Ghazni’ s Andar district is almost one year old, yet no side has managed to consolidate its control over the area. Violence has not let up during the last 12 months and the year ahead looks set to be just as bloody. Our author, Emal Habib, has been closely following […]

2 Apr 2013 Emal Habib • War and Peace

Inspiration in Kabul: Nancy Dupree and the Opening of the Afghanistan Centre

The Afghanistan Centre at Kabul University (ACKU) has been officially opened. A beautiful, airy building with a central green courtyard, it has space for both researchers and the Centre’s collection of 80,000 (and increasing) documents collected over the last three decades. The driving force behind the project is Nancy Hatch Dupree who said that ‘for […]

29 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

The ‘Bagram Duck’: Migrant bird killed north of Kabul and offered as game

If you drive to the Bagram detention centre, you pass by a row of small shops selling birds. Live finches and other wild song birds hop about in cages which hang among dead game birds on hooks, ready for the pot. The well-watered lands of the Shomali Plain, home to waders, ducks and many other […]

27 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

Despite Growing Ulema Conservatism: Afghans Managed to Celebrate Nawruz

Increasingly, during the last few years, the millennia-old celebrations of Nawruz, the New Year which starts at the spring equinox, ie around 21 March, has become the object of a religious debate in Afghanistan. Although the spring festivity is a major official holiday and continues to be a popular occasion for families to go on […]

25 Mar 2013 AAN Team • Context and Culture

The Other Guantanamo 5: A New MoU for Bagram and, Finally, a Handover?

The Pentagon has announced and the Afghan presidential palace confirmed that the US military will hand over its detention facility at Bagram Airbase to the Afghan authorities tomorrow, 25 March 2013. The presidential spokesman, Aimal Faizy, told AAN the two governments have negotiated a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which, unlike the first MoU on […]

24 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • International Engagement

Rancour between the Allies: Karzai speaks to the Americans

If the Americans ‘surrender’ to Afghan demands, President Karzai has said, he will sign a bilateral security agreement with them. He told an Afghan audience on national TV that the US wanted bases in Afghanistan – a globally significant country – and, as the audience laughed and applauded, he said: ‘The USA has come and […]

22 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • International Engagement

22 March 2013: Mali/Afghanistan Podium Discussion in Frankfurt/Main (with AAN)

Freedom through war? is the question the organisers of a podium discussion in the German city of Frankfurt are posing. And: What are the expectations and expected results of the military in Afghanistan und Mali? The discussion, with participation of AAN Co-director Thomas Ruttig, will take place on 22 March 2013 at 7 pm.   […]

20 Mar 2013 AAN • admin • Events

Sal-e Naw Mubarak! Neway kal-mu mubarak!

AAN would like to wish all our beloved readers and contributors a peaceful and happy new year. The signs of spring are all about us here in Kabul – blossom on the almond trees, cats a-courting and sunshine, warm and pleasant, is mixed with thunder showers. The mud underfoot is drying to dust in the […]

20 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

A War of Attrition in Farah Province

With the withdrawal of foreign troops taking place countrywide, it is inevitable that not all provinces fare the same, given the differences in insurgents’ and government’s degree of attention. Farah, a province where transition was scheduled late by all standards, has experienced a serious deterioration in security, even before the transition was over. The second […]

13 Mar 2013 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

The Kabul Bank Tribunal: an exercise in containment

The Kabul Bank crisis is complicated and multi-layered. Its tentacles reached into almost all centres of power and threatened to embarrass not just the architects of the scam, but practically everybody involved: businessmen, politicians, senior government officials, the various Presidential campaign teams, Parliamentarians, Central Bank staff, international advisers, donors – the list is long. Since […]

9 Mar 2013 Martine van Bijlert • Economy, Development, Environment