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A thin line between insurgency and local politics in Badakhshan

The competition between strongmen in Badakhshan until recently took place mainly at the local level – commanders would vie with each other for the control of poppy cultivation and trafficking or mine extraction. Patronage from the centre, from the Badakhshi politicians in Kabul, had also been a vital component of these struggles, but until recently […]

1 Nov 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

Election Date Fixed, but Questions Remain on Next Steps

Afghanistan has a date for its next presidential elections: 5 April 2014. But today’s announcement by the Independent Election Commission of a timeline leading up to this date leaves questions open about its implementation. First, there are contradictory statements about whether the old, controversial voter cards will be used again. Second, the IEC aims at […]

31 Oct 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

Guest Blog: The Andar Uprising – Co-opted, divided and stuck in a dilemma

More than five months into the Andar uprising, the anti-Taleban rebellion supported by the government and US forces has failed to unite the local tribe under its banner. Differences between participating groups have further sharpened as the government’s attempt to turn it into its proxy (and integrate it into the Afghan Local Police) has become […]

30 Oct 2012 Emal Habib • War and Peace

Warning Bells over Slow Electoral Reform and Voter Registration for 2014

A number of organisations have warned that electoral reform in the run-up to the 2014 polls in Afghanistan is moving too slowly. Two issues stand out: the lack of a voter registry and the lack of a revised electoral law. The recent argument about whether the future ECC should include UN-nominated members or not is […]

29 Oct 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Political Landscape

23 and 27 October 2012, Munich/Berlin: ‘Whither Afghanistan?’

AAN’s Thomas Ruttig participated in two podium discussions on Afghanistan in Germany in late October, a public one in Bavaria’s state parliament in Munich on 23 October (‘Whither Afghanistan?’), with an audience of over 400, and one under Chatham House rules, on occasion of the 20th founding anniversary German Bundesakademie für Sicherheit (BAKS, Federal Security […]

27 Oct 2012 AAN • admin • Events

Living in a Minefield: Panjwayi after the US Surge

In the words of one local elder, life in Panjwayi resembles living in a minefield. The district just southwest of Kandahar city has been a major arena for the US troop surge that was ordered in 2009 by President Obama dispatching 33,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The surge ended in September this year and was […]

24 Oct 2012 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

Guest Blog: Afghans or Americans on Top? The Future of Special Forces Operations in Afghanistan

In July, a new task force combining all international and Afghan special forces under a unified command was set up. Known as the Special Operations Joint Task Force-Afghanistan (SOJTF-A), it is led by an American general, but its spokesperson told AAN, ‘SOJTF-A does not have command of any Afghan Special Operations Forces, rather, we partner, […]

22 Oct 2012 Gary Owen • International Engagement

Conservatism by Default: Badakhshan’s Jamiat after Ustad Rabbani

Politics in Badakhshan sometimes seem to follow a separate course than Afghanistan’s mainstream, as is the case in other peripheral areas. Powerbrokers in this remote province – usually former jihadi commanders, most of them linked to the Jamiat-e Islami party – are struggling for control of trafficking and extracting resources from the province and appear […]

21 Oct 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Political Landscape

BREAKING NEWS: Harirod Storm Swept the Northern Alborz

Yesterday, 19 October 2012, Tofan Harirod defeated Simorgh Alborz 2-1 in a hotly contested final match of the Roshan Afghan Premier League. This may not have decisive and immediate implications on the political situation of Afghanistan, but the date will indeed remain a memorable one in the annals of Afghan sport. Moreover, it turned out […]

20 Oct 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Context and Culture

Social Protection in Afghanistan: Between Conflict, Traditions and International Aid

Martine van Bijlert, in: “The Cup, The Gun and The Crescent: Social welfare and civil unrest in Muslim societies”, edited by Sarah Ashencaen Crabtree, Jonathan Parker & Azlinda Azman; Bournemouth University Press (forthcoming) Martine van Bijlert discusses the formal and informal social protection structures in Afghanistan. Formal programmes are modest, despite the high levels of […]

20 Oct 2012 Martine van Bijlert • External publications

19 October 2012 – AAN/AW Transition Seminar Series 1: Lessons Learnt from the Past Elections

The Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN) and Afghanistan Watch (AW) launched the first of a Transition Seminar Series on 18 October 2012. Professor William Maley and AAN’s Martine van Bijlert spoke about the lessons that were learnt through the previous elections in Afghanistan and the implications for the upcoming polls planned for 2014. Follow-up seminars on […]

18 Oct 2012 AAN • admin • Events

The ICG Report and the Government’s Search for a New Narrative

A report by the International Crisis Group on Afghanistan’s upcoming transition has triggered a hostile response from the Afghan government. The ICG report is described as an attempt to weaken Afghanistan’s resolve in the face of the US-Afghan Strategic Partnership negotiations and as a means to pave the way for foreign interference in the upcoming […]

11 Oct 2012 Martine van Bijlert • International Engagement

Afghans in Kyrgyzstan: Fleeing Home and Facing New Uncertainty

Migrants, refugees, students and business people – these are the major groups of Afghans living in nearby Kyrgyzstan. Of late, new asylum-seekers have been joining them, fleeing Afghanistan’s uncertain future with the coming withdrawal of NATO troops and using the country as a transit stop on their routes to North America, Western Europe or Russia. […]

9 Oct 2012 S Reza Kazemi • Migration

For a Handful of Bolani: Kunduz’s New Problem with Illegal Militias

One month ago, at around the same time that Taleban attacked what was termed a ‘dancing party’ and killed its participants in the far north of Helmand province, a ‘freelance’ militia group invaded the village of Loy Kanam in Kunduz province and killed 12 people, including a number of innocent civilians. While the Helmand incident […]

8 Oct 2012 Gran Hewad • War and Peace

The start of the US campaign 11 years on: impressions then and now

The military intervention in Afghanistan that started on 7 October 2001 with bomb attacks on Kabul and other Taleban strongholds by a US-led coalition, put Afghanistan on a new path. The Taleban was removed by force and a new government was installed with broadly defined democratic institutions. Regime changes in Afghanistan since the 1970s have […]

7 Oct 2012 Borhan Osman • War and Peace

Eyes on the Election: Two Afghan parties elect leaders

Two of Afghanistan’s most important political parties – Afghan Millat (Afghan Nation) and Hezb-e Islami Afghanistan – held leadership elections during the first days of October, Millat chose a new leader, Hezb, the incumbent. Although both parties belong to the unofficial government coalition in Kabul, they have recently joined a coalition advocating clean and timely […]

6 Oct 2012 Gran Hewad • Political Landscape

Education in times of waseta: the example of Badakhshan

It is common wisdom that teachers are among the most important sections of Afghan society, as far as reconstructing the country goes. Also, almost everybody agrees that they are among the most underpaid and unempowered classes in Afghanistan. On the occasion of World Teachers’ Day, celebrated today in Afghanistan, AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini, who has just […]

5 Oct 2012 Fabrizio Foschini • Economy, Development, Environment

Kanda and Backyard Pools: Faryabi Ways of Coping with Water Shortages

Only 27 per cent of Afghanistan’s population has access to safe water sources, according to the government in Kabul. Faryab, a province in the country’s north, is an example of where access to potable water causes major problems for the inhabitants. Storing water for dry periods has always been a challenge there. Now problems have […]

3 Oct 2012 Obaid Ali • Economy, Development, Environment

Flash From the Past: The Wonderful Days of Afghanistan as a Football-Free Zone

Unlike my colleague, Thomas Ruttig (see the other blog: ‘X-Factor Football’), I wasn’t an under-14 champion at soccer. Indeed, after a brief flirtation with the sport in my early teenage years, I came to the conclusion being a football fan is one of the dullest past-times on the planet. So, for me, one of the […]

2 Oct 2012 Kate Clark • Context and Culture

X-Factor Football: Afghanistan’s New Football Premier League

Afghanistan’s first-ever professional football league has reached the semi-final stage. This has lifted Afghan football – which has been part of international football since the 1948 London Olympics – to a new level of organisation. For the first time, Afghanistan has a club competition, something which, in most countries, is the basis for selecting the […]

1 Oct 2012 Thomas Ruttig • Context and Culture