Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Sudhansu Verma

Scores of Afghans Missing, Feared Dead After Boat Capsizes Near Australia

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The Australian, 23 June 2012 Another boat with mainly Afghan asylum seekers has capsised off Australia’s northern coast. There are 109 survivors and 90 others still missing. ‘The boat is believed to have originated in Sri Lanka and to have been carrying as many as 200’.

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Afghan University Poll Angers Officials

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IWPR, 22 June 2012 An opinion poll conducted by the Civil Society and Human Rights Network, a coalition of rights groups, and the Future for Afghanistan Children Organisation, at Balkh University in Mazar-e Sharif has sparked controversy by revealing criticism of lecturers for ‘irresponsible’ and ‘discriminatory’ behaviour and corruption. Provincial governor Atta called for those […]

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Ancient Buddha attacked by Taliban in Pakistan gets facelift thanks to Italian archaeologist

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AP, 21 June 2012 ‘When the Taliban blew the face off a towering, 1,500-year-old rock carving of Buddha in northwest Pakistan almost five years ago, it fell to an intrepid Italian archaeologist to come to the rescue. Thanks to the efforts of Luca Olivieri and his partners, the 6-meter (nearly 20-foot)-tall image near the town […]

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Army ‘waterboarding victim’ who spent 17 years in jail is cleared of murder

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The Guardian, 21 June 2012 Article describes very familiar interrogation methods, but here they were used by the UK in their fight against the IRA in the 1970s. After 4 decades an appeals court has now thrown out a confession obtained through ‘water boarding’ and unlawful detention; luckily for the accused his death sentence was […]

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Worry Replaces Hope In Race To Restore Ancient Afghan City

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RFE/RL, 21 June 2012 Another well-researched article by Frud Bezhan (with Zarif Nazar), on Ghazni that has been selected as one of the three ‘Islamic capitals of culture’ of the world for 2013. But, as the Afghans journalists write, ‘with less than a year before the cultural festivals begin, however, these hopes have given way […]

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Afghanistan’s Absentee Politicians

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IWPR, 18 June 2012 43 Afghan MPs have been absent both in March and April without notifying the house, and some have been absent for as much as a year, the head of house’s secretariat reports. And five MPs maintain armed retinues of between 20 and 40, all paid for by the interior ministry, and […]

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‘Soft’ assistance for Afghanistan

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China Daily, 16 June 2012 An analysis of China’s Afghanistan policy by Yang Shu, director of Institute of Central Asian Studies, Lanzhou University.

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China’s Afghan oil deal on the skids

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Asia Times online, 13 June 2012 An analysis of China’s problems with an oilfield concession in Sarepul province and what it has to do with the role of the famous Watan company owned by the Popal brothers.

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Qayyum Karzai to run for presidency

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Pajhwok News Agency (Kabul), 12 June 2012 The Kabul-based agency reports that the Karzai family has nominated Qayyum Karzai, a brother of the incumbent president, to run for the country’s top office in 2014. It says it has been told so in an ‘exclusive interview’ with another Karzai brother, Mahmud. Referring to a recent report […]

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Rape Case, in Public, Cites Abuse by Armed Groups in Afghanistan

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New York Times, 1 June 2012 A young Kuchi women from Kunduz, in an extremely rare case, has gone public after having been raped as a result of an inter-family dispute, with possible involvement of a local ALP unit, and demanded that the perpetrators be punished.

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Visit Afghanistan’s ‘Little America,’ and See the Folly of For-Profit War

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The Atlantic, 1 June 2012 Read David Rohde’s long piece about USAID’s work in Helmand province, as it is forced to hire more and more contractors, even to oversee other contractors. With some reminiscences to the 1950-70s USAID project in the same province.

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