Thomas Ruttig

The Fall of Nimruz: A symbolic or economic game-changer?

Fabrizio Foschini •

With the fall of five provincial capitals in three days – Zaranj in Nimruz, Sheberghan in Jowzjan, Sarepul, Kunduz and Taloqan in Takhar –, the Taleban switched pace. After an unexpected and highly successful sweep of rural districts in many parts of Afghanistan yielded particularly astounding results in areas considered ‘difficult’ for them, such as […]

9 Aug 2021

Taliban-Vormarsch: Islamisten nehmen Kundus ein

dpa/Generalanzeiger, 8 August 2021 Der Verlust kleinerer Provinzhauptstädte sei „für die Regierung ein enormer Prestigeverlust, aber noch zu verschmerzen“, meint der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig von der Kabuler Denkfabrik Afghanistan Analysts Network. Der Fall von Kundus hingegen „wiegt schwerer“. Er könnte den Weg in die Hauptstadt öffnen, nach Kabul. Man müsse allerdings die Frage stellen, ob […]

8 Aug 2021

Vertrauliches Treffen in Doha: Bundesregierung führt Gespräche mit Taliban

ZDF, 6 August 2021 AAN’s Thomas Rutig commenting about the role of former Guantanamo and other Taleban ex-prisoners in Doha, after between German government and Taleban representatives: Die wenigen Taliban-Führer, die aus Gefängnissen in Guantanamo oder Pakistan entlassen wurden, gehören für Afghanistan-Experte Ruttig zu den Schlüsselfiguren des Konflikts. “Sie haben überlebt und sind bei ihren […]

6 Aug 2021

Vormarsch der Taliban in Afghanistan: Unheilvolle Vorahnung

Tageszeitung, 4 August 2021 A round-up of the current security situation (Taleban advances and attack on defence minister’s residence in Kabul), but also a discussion of which reports on Taleban atrocities are real and which are possibly made up.

4 Aug 2021

Afghan forces face intense Taliban test as foreign troops leave

AFP/France24, 4 August 2021 AAN’s Kate Clark is quoted here on the dropping morale in the Afghan government forces: “Even if the government had intended to let some districts fall… the damage to morale of the security forces and of the nation of seeing districts toppling like dominoes cannot be underestimated,” Kate Clark of the […]

4 Aug 2021

Taleban Victory or Government Failure? A security update on Laghman province 

Ali Mohammad Sabawoon •

Laghman province saw four of its six districts fall to the Taleban between late May and mid-July, part of the countrywide territorial advance by the Taleban that coincided with the final phase of the United States withdrawal from 1 May onwards. Laghman has long been contested, with a strong Taleban presence in some rural areas, […]

4 Aug 2021

Afghanistan: “Le pays est profondément divisé”

ARTE, 4 August 2021 In this video in French/German TV channel’s main news bulletin, quotes from AAN’s Thomas Ruttig (in French) about Afghanistan’s split political elite as one factor for the government’s weakness vis-à-vis advancing Taleban.

4 Aug 2021

Afghan soldiers offered higher wages to halt Taliban advance

Financial Times, 2 August 2021 AAN country director Ali Yawar Adili is quoted in this article about the general security situation in Afghanistan: “There has been a stronger push from the Taliban side into at least two major cities, Herat and Lashkar Gah, and there is still fighting going on,” said Ali Yawar Adili, country […]

2 Aug 2021

Afghans who worked with NZ fear deadly reprisals as Taliban closes in

New Zealand Herald, 31 July 2021 The NZ daily quotes from AAN research about the general security situation in Afghanistan and information provided by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig by email about the situation in the former NZ deployment area, Bamian: According to the Afghanistan Analysts Network (AAN), an independent non-profit policy research organisation, the Taliban has […]

31 Jul 2021

Gefährlich geschönt: Regierung verharmlost Afghanistan-Lage

Tageszeitung (Berlin), 23 July 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig analyses the latest German government report about the “asylum- and deportation-relevant situation in Afghanistan” (official name of the document) for the Berlin-based daily – and finds: in parts overtaken by reality, contains stark belittlements of the dramatically deteriorated situation and uses selective information from UN and other […]

23 Jul 2021

Canadian Veterans Fill Void to Help Afghans Who Once Worked With Them

The New York Times, 22 July 2021 Another reference to recent AAN research: The Taliban have gained control of nearly half of Afghanistan’s district centers since their current offensive began on May 1, according to the Afghanistan Analysts Network, a research organization. 

22 Jul 2021

Inside the Siege of Kunduz

Rolling Stone, 20 July 2021 This article contains a short quote from AAN research: The Afghanistan Analysts Network, a Kabul-based think tank, asserts that the Taliban strategy in the north “looks like a preemptive strike to prevent a northern opposition from organizing.”

20 Jul 2021