Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Sudhansu Verma

The A-Team Killings [in Wardak]

AAN •

The Rolling Stone, 6 November 2013 A must-read: Matt Aikins' latest scoop on killings of civilians by US special forces in Wardak province, in a district from which Karzai later forced US troops to withdraw. Matt has found evidence on 18 cases of such killings.

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Rare Afghan Haven at Risk as U.S. Departs

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Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2013 In this article we learn about district control in southern Afghanistan: Hutal, the district centre of Maiwand district (Kandahar province), is a "bubble" of government control, the only one in the district: "There is a health clinic and a functioning district administration. Women and children roam its streets freely, […]

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NATO Reduces Scope of Its Afghanistan Plans

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The New York Times, 27 October 2013 An excellent summary of the dilemmas facing the post-ISAF NATO mission in Afghanistan, including the differing views in oart of the military (more troops on the ground, better oversight, also financially) and the politicians (keep numbers and risks small). It also delineates how the new mission would look […]

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Out of Power Point Hell: In response to an officer’s tale of quasi-PTSD

AAN •

Sunny in Kabul (blog), 19 October 2013 El Snarky deservedly smashing some "Afghan" writing. Some at AAN think it is one of the best satires ever since Jonathan Swift's 1729 A Modest Proposal (For Preventing The Children of Poor People in Ireland From Being A burden to Their Parents or Country, and For Making Them Beneficial to The Public) (https://art-bin.com/art/omodest.html). Read yourself, […]

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Dangerous ‘truth’: The Kabul women’s poetry club

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BBC, 21 October 2013 Lyse Doucet's story about Kabul's Mirman (Mrs) Baheer literary society, continuing a tradition of women's poetry from Malalai and Rabia Balkhi: "We take pure and sacred words and express our feelings with those words. But I know my society has this belief that writing poetry is a sin."

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Silk Road jewel reveals more of its treasures

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BBC, 20 October 2013 Balkh province in northern Afghanistan is home to some of the most significant historical sites in the world – its ancient city was even known as the mother of all cities. More than a decade after her first visit, Lynne O'Donnell returns with a group of archaeologists, trying to uncover more […]

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Afghans Flee Homes as U.S. Pulls Back

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Wall Street Journal, 15 October 2013 Margherita Stancati and Rachel Pannett cover the story of displacement in Afghanistan and escape from the country from two geographical angles: covering the story of people forced to flee from Wardak, one of the insurgency's hot spots, to Kabul and from the in the direction of Australia, but with […]

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Forbidden Love And Execution Leaves Afghan Mullah Crying Foul

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Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 11 October 2013 In Badghis province, Halima escaped with her boyfriend on the eve of her forced wedding, only to be tracked down days later and shot dead in a public execution. The case led to a 17-year prison sentence against a local mullah seen in a video ordering Halima's execution. But now the mullah, 35-year-old […]

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[Comedian] Bahadorak Files for Presidential Candidacy, Lightens the Mood

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ToloNews, 6 October 2013 Afghan Comedian Bahadorak – The Little Hero – has submitted his documents for registration as a presidential candidate, together with three vice-presidential candidates. Maybe, this is the reason he has not been included in ToloNews' list of candidates. Let's see how the IEC reacts.

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How one girl’s killing has put Afghan justice on trial

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The Guardian, 8 October 2013 A good reminder by Emma Graham-Harrison that there are other things then an election campaign going on in Afghanistan, too: The story of "the impoverished relatives of a murdered 16-year-old girl are fighting the wealthy family of an MP [from Bamian province] in Afghan courts in a case that is testing the […]

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Pakistan army chief Kayani tipped to get new powerful job on retirement: sources

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Reuters, 4 October 2013 General Ashfaq Kayani, Pakistan's army chief to step down next month, is likely to become "head of a revamped and more powerful Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC)", the news agency reports. "One senior [Pakistani] intelligence official said [Prime Minister Nawaz] Sharif planned to overhaul the JCSC, a largely ceremonial office, […]

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Taleban Abductions on Afghanistan’s Road South

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IWPR, 2 October 2013 People in the Nangarhar province of eastern Afghanistan say the security situation is deteriorating rapidly, with a spate of kidnappings on the road to the Khyber Pass into Pakistan. In one incident, armed men stopped a car only 100 metres away from a security checkpoint. An eyewitness commented that “the government people stay in […]

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