Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Sudhansu Verma

Insurgency encroaching on central Afghanistan

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Long War Journal, 12 November 2012 New Zealand forces in Bamyan ‘have quietly and permanently closed two of their forward operating bases’ in Kahmard district, including forward operation base (FOB) Romero in the Do-Ab area, in early October.

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Twelve Veterans Days: Push To Stretch Afghan Presence Ignores Past

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Defense News, 12 November 2012 A very strong, US military soldier’s perspective on the xbox mentality of those wanting to keep troops in Afghanistan post-2014. Lt. Col. Daniel Davis, who has served more than 20 years in the U.S. Army, has been deployed to combat zones four times, twice to Afghanistan, and won the 2012 […]

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9 November 2012, Stockholm: SCA report release ‘Missing the Target’

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The Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA), the Kvinna till Kvinna (Women to Women) Foundation and Operation 1325 are releasing ‘Missing the Target – A report on the Swedish commitment for women, peace and security in Afghanistan’ in Sweden’s capital Stockholm on 9 November, authored by Ann Wilkens, a former Swedish ambassador to Pakistan and Afghanistan […]

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Days of Horror and Grief: Reporting the Panjwai Massacre

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NYT At War blog, 9 November 2012 In March, US soldier Staff Sgt. Robert Bales went on a rampage in a village in Kandahar’s Panjwayi district and killed 16 civilians. He is in a US military court now for multiple murder. New York Times reporter Taimoor Shah recalls how he went to the scene of […]

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As NATO Nears Exit, Construction Dries Up

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As NATO Nears Exit, Construction Dries Up A curse or a blessing? According to the executive manager of the Afghan Builders Association, the number of construction companies in Afghanistan had fallen to at most 3,000, compared with 10,000 at one time, and there was a ’30 to 40 percent drop in investment in construction this […]

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Torture claims halt MoD transfers to Afghan jails

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‘A determined attempt by the [British] Ministry of Defence to transfer insurgents to Afghan jails was blocked by the high court on Friday after it heard evidence that they would be handed over to a notorious torturer and alleged killer’, the British daily reports. ‘ The court heard how the Foreign Office minister Lady Warsi […]

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U.S. Finds Graft by Favored Afghan Leader

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Wall Street Journal, 2 November 2012 Some astonishing revelations: The man the US military once thought ‘the best hope for securing Nangarhar province’ (and, as some had the impression, a good president, as well) has been found to be involved in evil things: he ‘has been freeing suspected insurgents, running an open extortion scheme and […]

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NATO, Afghan Troops Shot Dead Afghan Civilians, Allegedly Covered Up

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Kabul Press, 30 October 2012 Another case on an issue dragging on for too long: two taleban (madrassa students) – mistaken for Taleban? – killed in a nught raid in Helmand.

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Afghan presidential vote due April 5, 2014: official

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AFP, 30 October 2012 An Afghan election official was not able to shut up and wait for the official announcement planned for tomorrow, 31 October: Apparently, the next presidential (and provincial council) election will be held on 16 Hamal 1393, i.e.5 April 2014.

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Kandahar: Assassination capital of Afghanistan

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BBC, 29 October 2012 In Kandahar, more than 500 targeted assassinations have taken place over the past 10 years, writes Dawood Azami, and adds that ‘these killings have become a weekly, if not daily, occurrence in recent years’. The targets include high-ranking politicians, provincial police chiefs, mayors, district governors, village and religious elders, as well […]

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Winter food crisis looms over Daikundi

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Pajhwok News Agency, 28 October 2012 People in the central Daikundi province is likely to face severe food crisis this winter as food production had dipped in recent months due to erratic weather conditions, the agency reports. ‘Wheat production declined by 30,000 tonnes this year compared to last year’s 50,000 tonnes output, while the province […]

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

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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 […]

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