Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Sudhansu Verma

Afghan Warlord: ‘The West Must Give Us Our Weapons Back’

AAN •

Spiegel online, 25 September 2013 Interview by Christian Neef with Ismail Khan in Herat who provided a number of interesting quotes: that the Afghan army trained by the West will never be capable of ensuring the country's long-term security; that "the arrogant Americans drove the most important Taliban out of Kabul, bombed the rest from the air and then […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Violent militant Sunni group, Jundullah, sets sights on Pakistan’s minority religions

AAN •

AP/The New Republic, 25 September 2013 Interesting background piece by Kathy Gannon about the militant, sectarian group Jundullah that bombed a Christian church in Peshawar on 22 September. She quotes Pakistani terrorism watchers saying that it maybe one of eleven TTP sub-groups specialised on particular targets.

Recommended Reads Read more

When Duke Ellington played Kabul

AAN •

BBC, 20 September 2013 Fifty years ago this week, writes Monica Whitlock, Duke Ellington and his band played in a concert in Kabul he later called one of the most memorable of his life. The organiser, Faiz Khairzada, remembers how 5,000 came to the Olympic Stadium; tickets were free, and how King Zahir and the royal family […]

Recommended Reads Read more

U.N. Official Presses Karzai on Rights Panel Appointees

AAN •

New York Times, 17 September 2013 "The top United Nations human rights official emerged from a meeting Tuesday with the Afghan president without hoped-for assurances that he would reverse his decision to pack the country’s human rights commission with political appointees. The U.N. high commissioner for human rights, Navi Pillay, was also generally critical that […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Afghan Farmers Ask Military to Pay Up for Land

AAN •

IWPR, 16 September 2013 Residents of Kunar province in eastern Afghanistan complain that large swathes of their farmland have been appropriated to build military bases, and the owners have received little or no compensation. Around ten international military bases have existed there since 2001. Initially used by NATO troops, the bases have now either been abandoned […]

Recommended Reads Read more

An Anatomy of Sharif’s First 100 Days

AAN •

Jinnah Institute (Pakistan), 12 September 2013 Renowned Pakistani journalist Zahid Hussain reviews the first 100 days of the new Pakistani government and comes to devastating conclusions: "[T]he first 100 days of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif’s government have been decidedly short on deliverables. … This 100-day phase has clearly lacked the direction and clarity of vision needed […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Britain’s Drone War in Afghanistan

AAN •

Global Research, 10 September 2013 While reporting about drone strikes in Afghanistan and Pakistan usually is focussed on the US, the British government now has published figures about it use of drones in Afghanistan for the first time. It says that British forces have carried out 299 drone strikes in Afghanistan, between 2008 to the end of […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Hardly a game-changer: Afghan Taliban’s release

AAN •

Dawn (Pakistan), 9 September 2013 Excellent editorial on the release of seven Afghan Taleban prisoners: "More than likely, the release … is a small confidence-building measure on the part of Pakistan to try and rehabilitate ties with outgoing President Karzai without significantly impacting the intra-Afghan dialogue process. … [a]t this late stage, with 2014 just […]

Recommended Reads Read more

The price of negotiating

AAN •

AfPakChannel, 5 September 2013 The Middle East Institute's Marvin Weinbaum, a former US diplomat in Afghanistan, argues that "the illusion that talks with the Afghan Taliban can result in a grand bargain" and the belief "that there exists a shortcut to ending the Afghan conflict" should both be shed. Attention should be given to "needed domestic reforms" in […]

Recommended Reads Read more

News: Afghan National Army soldiers showing initiative during generator course

AAN •

dvids, 3 September 2013 No, we did not make this up. (You also can subscribe to the author of this piece. We are sure more Pulitzer material will come out of him.)

Recommended Reads Read more

Enemy Inside the Wire: The Untold Story of the Battle of Bastion

admin •

GQ, September 2013 Matt Aikins latest story: One year ago this month, under cover of night, fifteen Taliban, dressed as American soldiers, snuck onto one of the largest air bases in Afghanistan. What followed was a bloody confrontation highlighting a startling security lapse, with hundreds of millions in matériel lost in a matter of hours—the worst […]

Recommended Reads Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up