Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

U.S. Steps Up Airstrikes in Afghanistan, Even Targeting ISIS

AAN •

New York Times, 15 July 2015 “Throughout June, American drones and warplanes fired against militants in Afghanistan more than twice as much as they had in any previous month this year, according to military statistics. … The vast majority of the strikes appear to remain focused on Taliban forces, the traditional targets of American airstrikes here for more than a decade. […]

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Afghan Civilians Pay the Price of Attacks

AAN •

KabulPress, 14 July 2015 The Kabul-based website quotes from an AAN assessment of the Taleban’s position vis-à-vis civilian casualties: According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network, the Taliban have a history of denying responsibility for attacks in which large numbers of civilians are killed. That suggests that even the Taliban recognize that attacks on civilians may […]

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Afghan Civilians Pay the Price of Attacks

AAN •

Human Rights Watch, 13 July 2015 In her HRW dispatch, Patty Gossman reviews this year’s Taleban attacks from the angle of civilian casualties. She concludes that “according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network, the Taliban have a history of denying responsibility for attacks in which large numbers of civilians are killed. That suggests that even the […]

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Before Taleban: Former President Ashraf Ghani visiting China in October 2014. Photo c/o Khaama Press.

Copper and Peace: Afghanistan’s China dilemma

Thomas Ruttig •

Facing what is now more than a two year delay in the opening of the Ainak copper mine, the Afghan government has indicated that it is considering re-advertising the contract for the project which had been won by a consortium of Chinese state-own companies. This turnaround has the potential to grow into a major foreign […]

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Tajikistan Uses Laws to Crush Islamist Opposition

Thomas Ruttig •

The Diplomat, 10 July 2015 Katherine Putz, reporting on the de facto (if not yet de jure) closing down of Tajikistan’s only significant opposition party and Central Asia’s only legal Islamist party, quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig when he reported from Tajikistan in 2014 for AAN: “[Helene] Thibault’s [from Registan blog] conclusion, that ‘Islamic radicalism does not […]

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«Pakistan versucht, andere Gesprächskanäle zu sabotieren»

Thomas Ruttig •

SRF, 9 July 2015 Listen to the audio of an interview on Swiss Radio with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the Pakistan-organised first direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taleban (in German) – raising doubts that this is a breakthrough towards peace in Afghanistan.

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The One Place in Asia Where the U.S. Embraces China’s Rise

Thomas Ruttig •

Bloomberg, 9 July 2015 A short quote by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig in this article about China’s and the US’s clout on Afghan peace talks: “The U.S. is gradually disengaging from central Asia, including Afghanistan, while China is on the rise in the region,” said Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Kabul-based Afghanistan Analysts Network. China’s multi-billion […]

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Taliban Were Authorized to Talk, Afghan Envoys Say

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New York Times, 9 July 2015 AAN’s Borhan Osman is quoted in Mujib Mashal’s article: “The Pakistani military, which has sheltered the Taliban’s leadership for years, redoubled its pressure on the insurgents to come to the table. As a result, some Taliban commanders began fleeing Pakistan, said Borhan Osman, a researcher at the Afghan Analysts […]

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Islamabad bootet Katar aus

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung, 8 July 2015 In the Berlin daily, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig reports about and analyses the Pakistan-hosted first official direct talks between the Afghan government and the Taleban (in German). He writes that there were some unclarities linked to the talks, first of all whether the Taleban representatives were authorised to take part by their […]

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The Islamic Renaissance Party’s downfall and its consequences for Tajikistan’s stability

AAN •

Registan (blog), 8 July 2015 A look beyond Afghanistan’s northern border, into Tajikistan, by Helene Thibault, where the government uses all legal tricks to silence and suppress the only legal Islamic opposition party all over Central Asia.

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Why China is alarmed about IS presence in Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutsche Welle, 8 July 2015 Full interview with AAN’s Borhan Osman on the English programme of Germany’s official overseas radio station. He says, for example: “Afghanistan’s northern neighbors and China worry too much about a possible IS threat that makes them translate the security deterioration into an imminent IS threat. (…) China is possibly more worried […]

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Can the high-level talks lead to peace in Afghanistan?

Thomas Ruttig •

Deutsche Welle, 8 July 2015 (also on DW Dari and Pashto) AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is quoted here on the Afghan-Taleban talks (not “high-level” yet) in Pakistan: “Thomas Ruttig, co-director and co-founder of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, warned of a rivalry between those Taliban in favor and those against engaging in negotiations with president Ghani’s government […]

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