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Afghanistan’s vain attempts at wooing Pakistani Islamists for peace

The recent assertion by Pakistan’s chief cleric, Tahir Ashrafi, about the permissibility of Taleban’s suicide attacks was completely the opposite of what Afghanistan had been looking for. Indeed, Kabul has had difficulties in mobilising religious leaders to speak against suicide attacks. A long sought conference of ulama from Afghanistan and Pakistan aimed at delegitimising militancy […]

7 Mar 2013 Borhan Osman • Regional Relations

An Afghan-Pakistani Strategic Agreement: Side-steps, Back Steps and New Steps

It was a story that never really broke: for the first time, a leading Afghan politician has accepted a draft document of a Strategic Partnership Agreement (SPA) between Afghanistan and Pakistan. But as a part of attempts to strengthen regional integration and cooperation, such an agreement is on the agenda again. And, as usual, it […]

4 Mar 2013 Gran Hewad • Regional Relations

The Other Guantanamo 4: The Final Handover of Bagram in Sight?

The transfer of detainees held at Bagram airbase from US to Afghan hands is once again in full swing. Transfers had begun after the US and Afghan governments signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on transferring Bagram almost a year ago, but they were suspended by the US in late summer 2012, due to reluctance […]

3 Mar 2013 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Trying to Control the Uncontrolled: the NSC’s decision on Wardak

Months of reported abuses in Wardak by armed groups and individuals apparently linked to a US Special Operations base, and the failure of ISAF to take responsibility or to adequately respond, has led the National Security Council to announce that all US Special Operations Forces are to be removed from Wardak within two weeks. Although […]

26 Feb 2013 Martine van Bijlert • War and Peace

Beans and Bullets: Pentagon report puts ANSF logistical and combat capabilities in doubt

Since the 2014 deadline for the withdrawal of all NATO combat troops has been set, the strengthening of Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) so that they can defend Afghanistan from the insurgency has become a central pillar of NATO’s strategy. The most complete, publicly available records of the progress of the ANSF come as part […]

26 Feb 2013 Gary Owen • War and Peace

When and Why to Catch a TTP Leader: Faqir Muhammad’s Arrest

The capture last week of a prominent Pakistani militant in the Afghan province of Nangrahar by Afghan police and intelligence has made a sensation in both countries, being widely interpreted as a positive step for diplomatic relations and cooperation. But it also led to controversial commentaries by some observers. The presence inside Afghanistan of Pakistani […]

24 Feb 2013 Fabrizio Foschini • War and Peace

Torture, Illegal Armed Groups: Signs of Possible Afghan Government Action?

Many were surprised by the eventual response of the Afghan government to the detailed allegations made by UNAMA in January concerning torture carried out by the National Directorate of Security (NDS) and the Afghan National Police (ANP). The government’s initial denials that any problem existed were predictable enough, but were followed by President Karzai ordering […]

22 Feb 2013 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Fewer Deaths, But…: UNAMA’s 2012 Civilian Casualties Report (amended)

‘Civilian deaths in Afghan Conflict fall for the first time in six years’ was the good news top line of the new 2012 report by UNAMA on the protection of civilians. Fewer civilians were killed in suicide attacks, ground engagements and aerial attacks, said UNAMA. The Taleban remain responsible for bulk of civilian deaths, while […]

19 Feb 2013 Kate Clark • War and Peace

18 February 2013: Thomas Ruttig’s Afghanistan Conflict Portrait on German Website

AAN’s Thomas Ruttig has been invited to write the updated ‘Afghanistan conflict portrait’ for a much frequented German website, that of Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Centre for Political Education). It is a first point of reference for many pupils, students and teachers. Find his contribution (in German) here. The page also has a debate […]

18 Feb 2013 AAN • admin • Events

The Civilian Casualty Tightrope: Karzai Bans ANSF Calling in ‘Foreign’ Airstrikes on Villages

In a blistering speech on 16 February 2013, President Hamed Karzai called requests to foreigners by Afghan security forces for airstrikes on Afghan villages ‘shameful’.(1) His office said that tomorrow, he will issue a decree formally banning requests for strikes on what is being described in the English press as ‘residential areas’. The president’s move […]

17 Feb 2013 Gary Owen • War and Peace

New Trouble in the Jombesh: Dostum reasserts leadership

The official leader of Jombesh party has been relieved of his post, along with eight other members of the party’s political committee. The sacked chairman, Sayed Nurullah Sadat, has cried foul, saying he could only be removed by a party congress and accusing the party’s founder, General Dostum, of being behind his dismissal. This looks […]

17 Feb 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Allen, Obama and Orwell: Continuing War is Victory

President Obama in his State of the Union address announced what to many looks like an accelerated drawdown of US troops with half out of Afghanistan by this time next year. ‘We can say with confidence,’ Obama said, ‘that America will complete its mission in Afghanistan and achieve our objective of defeating the core of […]

13 Feb 2013 Kate Clark • War and Peace

General Allen Leaves with an Improved Report Card on Civilian Casualties and Torture

Today, 10 February 2012, the commander of ISAF and US forces in Afghanistan, General John Allen, leaves after a year and a half in the job. ‘When I got here,’ he told The New York Times, ‘I measured success in how well and how often we were fighting. Today, it’s a very different environment. The […]

10 Feb 2013 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Ustad Atta for President? The ‘Northern Front’ Summit and other Pre-Election Manoeuvres

Seven months before candidate registration starts this year for the 2014 presidential election(1) and 15 months before the incumbent has to leave his position for good, positioning for the post-Hamed Karzai period has picked up. Five leaders of non-Pashtun factions or movements, mainly former mujahedin, have decided to look for a joint candidate who might […]

6 Feb 2013 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Ambiguous about Torture: Zero Dark Thirty, the Movie

Oscar-winning film director, Kathryn Bigelow’s new film Zero Dark Thirty tells the story of the search for and eventual killing of Osama Bin Laden. The film has proved controversial – praised by some for its cool realism, it has also been castigated for inaccuracies. Above all, though, it has been accused of justifying torture. AAN […]

5 Feb 2013 Kate Clark • Rights and Freedoms

Ulama conference aimed at outlawing suicide attacks: victim of a blame game (amended)

As the leaders of Pakistan, Afghanistan and Britain meet in London today to discuss the peace process, AAN looks at an earlier plan to present a common Pakistan/Afghan face against the Taleban over the issue of suicide attacks. In November, Islamabad and Kabul announced they would be holding an ulama conference in January in which […]

4 Feb 2013 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

‘Talibanistan’, new book with AAN contributors, gets excellent review

‘Talibanistan: Negotiating the borders between terror, politics, and religion’, edited by Peter Bergen and Katherine Tiedemann, brings together a number of (updated) policy papers written for the New America Foundation’s (NAF) ‘The Battle for Afghanistan’ and ‘The Battle for Pakistan’ since 2010. The NAF calls the authors ‘an unparalleled group of experts offer a nuanced […]

31 Jan 2013 AAN • admin • Events

Budget Through, Impeachments Pending: Wolesi Jirga Went into Winter Recess

At the third go, the Lower House of parliament finally approved the government’s general budget for the Afghan year 1392 (March 2012 to March 2013) on 20 January 2013. The so-called qatia report – the final account for the previous fiscal year – however, revealed that many ministries had again failed to spend a significant […]

31 Jan 2013 Obaid Ali • Economy, Development, Environment

Eagle’s Summit Revisited: AAN report about Decision-Making in the Kajaki Dam Project

In the summer of 2008, in what was described as the biggest British-led ‘route clearance operation’ since World War II, nearly 5000 ISAF and Afghan troops transported eight components of a hydroelectric turbine, each weighing 20 to 30 tonne, from Kandahar Air Field to the Kajaki Dam in Helmand Province – in the face of […]

30 Jan 2013 Noah Arjomand • Special Reports

30-31 January 2013, Barcelona: AAN speakers at Conference on Afghanistan Legacy

The international intervention in Afghanistan started in October 2001. The aim was not only to bring down the Taleban regime, but to capture Osama Ben Laden, the leader of al-Qaida, and to save women from the fundamentalists. During more than a decade of international presence, billions of dollars have been invested in Afghanistan and nearly […]

28 Jan 2013 AAN • admin • Events