Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

Islamisten in Afghanistan: Splittergruppen zieht es zum IS

Thomas Ruttig •

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 18 February 2015 In a guest article, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig and Borhan Osman discuss the extent of IS influence in Afghanistan and Pakistan as so far “embryonic” and through splinter groups only. The Taleban still dominate the battlefield, and the killing of its newly appointed vice governor for “Khorasan” province, former Taleban deputy […]

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“Islamischer Staat” versus “Taliban-Emirat”: Ein Kalif zu viel

Thomas Ruttig •

Qantara, 18 January 2015 The Middle East website of German Deutsche Welle radio quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about the IS in Afghanistan: “Der Tod von Khadim könnte schon der Anfang vom Ende des ‘Islamischen Staates’ in seiner neuen ‘Provinz’ Khorasan sein”, meint etwa Thomas Ruttig vom “Afghanistan Analysts Network”. Auch Ruttig betrachtet die Berichterstattung zum […]

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Afghanistan nach Karzai

Thomas Ruttig •

Das Blättchen, 16 February 2015 A first balance of the new Afghan national unity government’s first months (in German) in the Berlin-based biweekly (a successor to the famous pre-war “Weltbühne”), with a particular focus on social problems and the economic crisis.

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Graveyard of Durrani princes receding into oblivion

AAN •

Dawn (Pakistan), 15 February 2015 “Although archaeology department has taken over the ancestral graveyard and the palace of Durrani princes, who ruled Kohat from the 19th century to 20th century, these historical sites are still among the most neglected ones in the region. The Durrani rulers of Kohat, Prince Sir Sultan Jan Sadozai and his father […]

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Lesestoff Afghanistan: Über die Brücke der Freundschaft

Thomas Ruttig •

Augen geradeaus! (blog), 15 February 2015 The German military blog (with special interest in Afghanistan) links to AAN/Thomas Ruttig’s dispatch on the anniversary of the Soviet withdrawal from Afghanistan

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Dr Abdullah and Dr Ghani signing their first bilateral agreement on 8 August 2014.

The President’s CEO Decree: Managing rather than executive powers (now with full translation of the document)

Thomas Ruttig •

It is one of the central documents of the new national unity government, but it has not received much public attention: the presidential decree that lays out the “responsibilities and authorities” of the new Chief Executive Officer and was already issued in December 2014. AAN’s co-director Thomas Ruttig has read the document (find an AAN […]

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U.S. Is Escalating a Secretive War in Afghanistan

AAN •

New York Times, 12 February 2015 The article reports an upsurge in US nightraids in Afghanistan after it obtained the computer of an al-Qaeda operative, Abu Bara al-Kuwaiti, with files detailing operations. “No official would provide exact figures, because the data is classified.” The article further says: “The spike in raids is at odds with policy […]

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Robert L. Grenier’s ‘88 Days to Kandahar’ [Review]

AAN •

New York Times, 11 February 2015 Excellent review of the version how Hamed Karzai came to Afghanistan in 2011 written by the CIA station chief in Islamabad from 1999 to 2002 “with practical responsibility for Taliban-dominated ­areas of southern and eastern Afghanistan during the crucial early months of the war” and therefore also for Karzai’s anti-Taleban […]

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Taliban-turned-Islamic State militant killed in Afghanistan strike

AAN •

Los Angeles Times, 9 February 2015 A short quote of AAN’s Borhan Osman in this article about the killing of former Taleban commander, reportedly turned the Islamic State’s deputy governor in “Khorasan.”

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د طالبانو مشهور قومندان عبدالرووف خادم د امریکایانو په بمبار کې ووژل شو

AAN •

Nunn.Asia, 9 February 2015 The pro-Taleban website carries background information from Borhan Osman’s AAN research on the news of the killing of former Taleban deputy military chief Rauf Khadem, to support their argument that ISIS is only a media phenomenon in Afghanistan: ملي امنیت وايي چې خادم نن سهار مهال د هلمند په کجکي ولسوالۍ کې وژلی […]

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Afghanistan: Gegen Scham und Straflosigkeit

Thomas Ruttig •

Wiener Zeitung, 6 February 2015 A reportage (in German) about Khatera, a young Afghan woman raped by her own father and her fight for survival, against her own family, the local mullah and corrupt officials. The report quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig about corruption in the Afghan judiciary and from Wazhma Samandary’s AAN dispatch about domestic […]

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Afghan Taliban show resilience despite years of US ‘capture-kill’ policy

Thomas Ruttig •

Christian Science Monitor, 6 February 2015 A short quote of AAN’ Thomas Ruttig, on the efficiency of the US-led capture-or-kill strategy against ‘Taleban leaders’: “There [wa]s not much of an effect except for killing those who are known leaders in the Taliban movement and eliminating possible contacts in the search for a political solution,” says […]

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