Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Qayoom Suroush

Bamyan, First Ever Cultural Capital of South Asia: A big party, but what else?

Qayoom Suroush •

Five months late and almost half-way through its crucial year, Bamyan has finally been inaugurated as the 2015 South Asia Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC) cultural capital, the organisation’s first ever. Second Vice President Sarwar Danesh, Second Deputy Chief Executive Muhammad Mohaqeq and Minister of Information and Culture Bari Jahani were among the guests who […]

Context and Culture Read more

Hazaras in the Crosshairs? A scrutiny of recent incidents

Qayoom Suroush •

Eight abductions of groups of people have been reported since late February by officials, activists or media as having targeted ethnic Hazaras. The first was also the biggest: the abduction of 31 bus passengers in Zabul on 23 February 2015. Other crimes ‘against Hazaras’ have been reported from Ghazni, Farah, Daikundi and Balkh. AAN’s Qayoom […]

War and Peace Read more
Library in Kabul. Photo: Qayoom Suroush

Reading in Kabul: The state of Afghan libraries

Qayoom Suroush •

With Afghanistan’s educated class growing rapidly over the past decade while education resources remain scarce, there is an increasing need for a functioning public library system, AAN’s Qayoom Suroush argues. However, the only public library of Afghanistan’s capital – at the same time standing in for a non-existent national library – is not even close […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Going in Circles: The never-ending story of Afghanistan’s unfinished Ring Road

Qayoom Suroush •

Since the presidential campaign and during trips abroad President Ashraf Ghani has been promising to turn Afghanistan into an “Asian roundabout” for regional trade and transit. However, for this, Afghanistan would need to improve its transport systems and build new and better roads. That is probably why, in his first cabinet meeting, on 2 October […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

A new Afghan Shia Leader: Return to quietism versus political Islam?

Qayoom Suroush •

A new leader is emerging in Afghanistan’s Shia community, one who so far has chosen to abstain from any presence or involvement in the religious or political affairs of the country. Ayatollah Mohammad Eshaq Fayaz is being supported by Afghan Shia – among them rather influential figures such as Second Vice President Sarwar Danish – […]

Political Landscape Read more
Under Pul-e Sukhta bridge. Photo: Qayoom Suroush

Under the Bridge: The drug addicts’ scene in Kabul

Qayoom Suroush •

Addiction to drugs is an often underestimated phenomenon in Afghanistan. Thousands of people become addicted to drugs every year in a country that is the world’s major producer of opiates, although many of them developed the habit while living abroad as refugees. In Kabul, they concentrate in western areas of the city, living in veritable […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Elections (40): The IECC open sessions on election day complaints

Qayoom Suroush •

Earlier this month, while the IEC was busy deciding whether to announce the highly controversial preliminary results or not, the IECC embarked on its third round of complaints adjudication. The first two rounds – first round presidential and the, now paused, provincial council hearings – had already been a rushed and largely formalistic affair. This […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections (34): The tug-of-war over the Hazara vote, round II

Qayoom Suroush •

How did the large Afghan Hazara minority – that surprised everyone in the first round with its nearly unanimous backing for Dr Abdullah – vote in the second round of the presidential elections? Partial results from the Independent Election Commission (IEC) are not yet available, but in one of the key provinces for Hazaras, Bamyan, […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (24): The IECC’s performance addressing provincial council complaints

Martine van Bijlert • Qayoom Suroush •

While most observers are focused on the upcoming second round of the presidential election, the process surrounding the provincial council vote is still ongoing. The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) finished its open sessions last week and, in response to allegations of manipulation by IEC staff, ordered a widespread recount of votes, which had already […]

Political Landscape Read more

2014 Elections (21): A closer look at the IECC’s performance and the challenges it faced

Qayoom Suroush •

For the first time since elections were held in post-Taleban Afghanistan, the country’s Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) has held a series of open sessions addressing electoral complaints. The concept was, in principle, welcomed by independent observers, candidates’ agents and civil society, but the process itself was often confused and rushed and sometimes overly bureaucratic. […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (15): Hazaras overturning all expectations

Qayoom Suroush •

Before the elections, no-one had expected Abdullah Abdullah to win the Hazarajat’s votes, especially by such a large margin. His strong showing here – and that of his vice president, Mohammad Mohaqeq – could have consequences for the presidential election as a whole; the Hazaras, as one of the largest minorities in the country, could play […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (11): How the Hazaras voted in Bamyan

Qayoom Suroush •

Initial observations appear to show that Dr Abdullah has won the majority of the vote in Bamyan – with Ashraf Ghani so far second by a large margin. Bamyan is important – a province which is generally secure and has a highly motivated electorate. It is also the one province with an overwhelmingly ethnic Hazara […]

Political Landscape Read more

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