Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Afghan govt property allegedly sold in [Mecca]

AAN •

Pajhwok, 6 July 2015 Interesting article by the Kabul-based news agency, also for its historical content – and the fact that Afghanistan owned (or still owns?) a property in Mecca for Afghan pilgrims which might now – or might not – have fallen victim to the gigantic extensions works at the big Mecca mosque around […]

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Russian Soldiers Start a Second Life in Afghanistan

AAN •

Moscow Times, 6 July 2015 Review of a book, photos and interview with the author, Alexei Nikolayev, a Moscow photographer specialising in photo stories about Russia and the former Soviet republics, who went to Afghanistan to document the lives of six former Soviet soldiers who had been captured by mujahedin during the Soviet-Afghan war in the 1980s and never returned home. A reminder to recent history, […]

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All that remains: our questionable legacy in Afghanistan

AAN •

Brisbane Times, 4 July 2015 In a very interesting reportage from Uruzgan, the article discusses the Australian forces’ legacy in that province, and of their backing of local strongman Matiullah (against the practice of their Dutch ‘allies’, quotes AAN’s Martine van Bijlert: “Afghanistan is full of Western-backed strongmen who can be trusted to fight the Taliban. […]

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Afghanistan’s Marginalized Minority Fights Stateless Status

AAN •

RFE/RL, 30 June 2015 Interesting article about an unknown Afghan minority: the Mosulis, a nomadic people of Iraqi origin who migrated to Iran and Afghanistan during the time of the Abbasid caliphate (750–1258 AD). Mosuli people mainly live in the southeast – Khost,  Paktia and Paktika, pockets also in the capital Kabul, Kandahar and Balkh as well as across […]

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Afghan president appoints a second female governor


AAN •

New York Times, 29 June 2015 After the appointment of Sima Joyenda, Afghanistan’s third-ever  female provincial governor (after Habiba Sarobi in Bamian under Karzai and Ghani appointment Masuma Muradi for Daikundi), the debate starts: Can a woman run such a conservative province? Will the (male) commanders listen to her in security meetings? etc

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Years after invasion, the U.S. leaves a cultural imprint on Afghanistan

AAN •

Washington Post, 28 June 2015 This is about illegal poker rounds, gangsta rap, US flags on basecaps, Heinz barbecue sauce, graffiti art and the “new freedoms.”  First question: Is this all really American? Second question: What about Bagram black jail, torture and kill-or-capture? Did this also affect Afghan culture?

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„Sicherheit darf sich nicht auflösen“

Thomas Ruttig •

Frankfurter Rundschau, 26 June 2015 Extensive interview (in German) with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, covering a broad array of issues, including the Taleban attack on the Afghan parliament, Taleban-IS relations, the security in general, the strength of the Afghan forces and the situation of aid organisations.

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رویارویی طالبان و داعش؟ (Conflict between the Taleban and Daesh?)

AAN •

BBC (Persian service), 25 June 2015 BBC’s Harun Najafizada, writes, based on an interview with AAN’s Borhan Osman: “The Taleban’s sending of letter to IS publicly was out of getting tired with the rise of fighters identifying with IS in the east, especially after the killing of the Taleban’s shadow governor for Nangarhar, which has been […]

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Taliban-Terror: So dramatisch ist die Lage in Afghanistan

AAN •

Bild, 24 June 2015 The biggest German tabloid very briefly quotes from an AAN diapatch in a short news item about the situation two years after the Bundeswehr withdrawal from Kunduz: “Die Islamisten kontrollieren bereits 65 Prozent der Gebiete, heißt es in einer Analyse des Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN). Und: ‘Kundus ist Frontlinie.’“  

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Afghan forces repel daring Taliban attack on Kabul parliament

AAN •

Christian Science Monitor, 22 June 2015 The Monitor quotes itself quoting an AAN report, about the success or lack of of kill-or-capture operations:   The Christian Science Monitor wrote last year: Throughout the Afghan war, the US conducted capture-kill operations, missions designed to target key militant leaders. Such operations were most commonly used under US […]

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Afghanistan, talebani attaccano il parlamento

AAN •

Lettera43, 22 June 2015 The Italian online daily quotes AAN author Fabrizio Foschini in a report about the Taleban attack on parliament in Kabul, saying this constituted part of a campaign to defend “hegemony” in the Afghan jihad: “È la prosecuzione della scia di sangue del gruppo terroristico e della ‘offensiva di primavera’, la campagna […]

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چو دزدی با چراغ آید گزیده‌تر برد کالا

AAN •

Hasht-e Sobh, 20 June 2015 The Kabul-based daily writes about corruption in the Ministry of Education and mostly talked about the SIGAR report about former minister Faruq Wardak’s involvement in it. In the middle of the article, it is said that AAN released a report on corruption in the education field when Wardak was still the […]

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