Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Texas troops aiding effort to support, advise Afghan military

Thomas Ruttig •

San Antonio Express-News, 29 October 2016 In this article with a particular local US angle on troops in Afghanistan, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted on the general effectiveness of the Afghan troops (apparently using an ealier publication): In the view of Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghan Analysts Network, a nonprofit research group, the performance of […]

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Afghanistan-Krieg: «Es braucht Gespräche mit den Taliban»

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF, 25 October 2016 Listen to the audio and read a transcript (in German) of an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig with Swiss Radio about the security situation in Afghanistan before the backdrop of planned (or desired) deportations of rejected Afghan asylum seekers. He argues that a political solution – and therefore talks with the […]

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Afghanistan: Opiumproduktion wächst wegen Taliban-Erfolgen

AAN •

dpa/Spiegel and others, 23 October 2016 In this article reporting the increasing opium production in Afghanistan, AAN’s Jelena Bjelica is quoted as saying: Es gebe einen “gut dokumentierten Zusammenhang zwischen Unsicherheit und Mohnanbau”, sagt Jelena Bjelica vom Rechercheinstitut Afghanistan Analysts Network. “Mohn hat wenige Risiken in einer Hochrisiko-Umgebung. Es ist eine natürliche Wahl für Bauern im […]

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What America’s new war looks like in Afghanistan’s most violent province

AAN •

Washington Post, 16 October 2016 550-strong US Task Force Forge is back in Camp Shorab in Helmand, with its motto: “Holding the Helmand Line,” supported by Task Force Lethal — an American unit made up of an infantry battalion, medical-evacuation helicopters and gunships, stationed at Camp Dwyer. It had started in February 2015 “as seven advisers and four […]

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Refugees: It Really Wasn’t Merkel

Thomas Ruttig •

Zeit online, 11 October 2016 In this article putting the ‘Merkel factor’ of the 2015 migration movements into Europe into context, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted in the part “If it wasn’t Merkel, then who was it?”, referring to the “security situation in Afghanistan worsened significantly.” Thomas Ruttig of the Afghanistan Analysts Network estimates that between […]

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Refugees: It Really Wasn’t Merkel

AAN •

Zeit online, 11 October 2016 Putting the overrated ‘Merkel factor’ in the 2015 migration movements into context – of data and of long-term causes for people fleeing their countries. Article also available in German.

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Afghanistanekspert: Må skape fred og jobber translate [Peace and jobs must be brought]

Thomas Ruttig •

Klassekampen, 23 September 2016 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig quoted extensively in this two-pager in the Norwegian left-wing daily on the triple crisis in Afghanistan: socio-economic, security and governmental, based on an interview during the Afghanistan week organised by Norwegian Afghanistan Committee (NAC). Not online yet, but here a screenshot from Twitter.

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Afghanistan inngår fredsavtale med «Slakteren i Kabul»

Thomas Ruttig •

NRK, 22 September 2016 The website of Norwegian public broadcaster has collected a number of reactions to the peace deal between the Afghan government and Hezb-e Islami. One is from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig: En av verdens fremste Afghanistan-kjennere, Thomas Ruttig i Afghanistan Analysts Network, betegner Hekmatyar som farlig. – Han er veldig farlig, veldig mange […]

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Politiskt käbbel hotar Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

TT/Göteborgs-Posten, 21 September 2016 The Swedish news agency quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the NUG’s performance: I de flesta afghaners ögon har NUG presterat dåligt. Den är i stor utsträckning blockerad av interna stridigheter om maktdelningen, vilket tar tid och kraft från viktigare saker som socioekonomiska frågor och ett slut på kriget, säger Thomas Ruttig […]

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EASO publishes a Country of Origin Information (COI) report on recruitment by armed groups in Afghanistan

AAN •

EU News, 19 September 2016 AAN is quoted several times in a recent report of the European Asylum Support Office, titled “Afghanistan Recruitment by armed groups”, reports the EU-related news agency, for example here: A quality review was carried out by Kate Clark from the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), an independent non- profit policy research organisa […]

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Reburial of Habibullah II (Kalakani) on Shahr Ara Hill. Photo: Pajhwok.

Who Was King Habibullah II? A query from the literature

Thomas Ruttig •

The recent reburial of King Habibullah II – aka Habibullah Kalakani aka derogatively Bacha-ye Saqao (The Water Carrier’s Son) – that stirred up controversy and violence was another reflection of Afghanistan’s increasingly ethnicised politics. Competing narratives about historical events and the legacy of historical figures reflect deeper, underlying societal and political cleavages, both between ethnic […]

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Can Ghani and Modi stop the Taliban’s perpetual-motion war machine?

AAN •

Indian Express, 15 September 2016 The Indian daily finds Lola Cecchinel’s analysis for AAN about Kunduz “very thoughtful”: In large swathes of the country, this means government has all but vanished. In a thoughtful analysis written this month, Afghan Analysts Network researcher Lola Cecchinel wrote that the government’s influence in the Kunduz districts of Dasht-e […]

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