Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Thomas Ruttig

The U.S. Is Leaving Afghanistan? Tell That to the Contractors.

New York Magazine, May 2021 While the US and other troops are leaving Afghanistan on the basis of a US-Taleban agreement that also covers contractors, at least some companies deploying contractors to the country seem to continue operating and even expecting to remain in the country, as they are “under private payroll.” For instance, the […]

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Kontinuität und Wandel der Taliban

Tageszeitung, 17 May 2021 A portrait of the Afghan Taleban movement between “continuity and change” – with four short portraits of leaders or important figures: Hebatullah Akhundzada, Serajuddin Haqqani, Mullah Baradar and Sher Muhammad Abbas Stanakzai (in German).

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The Amazing Rise And Fall Of Century-Old Afghan Box Cameras

RFE/RL, 15 May 2021 Ron Synowitz’s must-read about a rapidly disappearing trade in Afghanistan: “Now, with photography digitized, the karma-e-faoree has disappeared” and also spare parts and the right type of photo paper are nowhere to be found anymore. An edict in the 1950s by Afghanistan’s king, Zahir Shah, to introduce a black-and-white photo ID […]

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Chances For Peace In Afghanistan Recede As Deadly Taliban Attacks Spiral

Gandhara (RFE/RL), 12 May 2021 In this article which supposes that the Taleban are “creating the illusion that it remains committed to the peace process to gain further concessions from the United States”, AAN’s Ali Adili is quoted as saying: “The Taliban realizes that if it officially announces a spring offensive it would formalize the […]

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75pc of mining sites controlled by militants and strongmen

Pajhwok News Agency, 10 May 2021 A table of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (MoMP) shows that of 748 mining areas in different parts of Afghanistan, about 283 are controlled by the Taliban, 281 by government and the remaining by power full individuals. The ministry collected information on nationwide mining sites. A source in […]

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Nach der Schule der Tod – Mehr als 50 Opfer bei Anschlag in Kabul

dpa/Bieler Tageblatt, 9 May 2021 AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the ‘signature’ of the 8 May 2021 Dascht-e Barchi terrorist attack on a girls school (in German): Aus Sicht des Afghanistan-Experten Thomas Ruttig trägt der Anschlag die Handschrift des IS. Man könne aber auch Sabotage-Aktionen von Kräften nicht ausschliessen, die an den inner-afghanischen Friedensverhandlungen nicht interessiert […]

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Terroranschlag in Kabul: Bombenangriff auf Schule

Tageszeitung, 9 May 2021 Op-ed (online and in print on 10 May) by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig, summarising information about the terrorist attack on a girls school in Kabul, the contradictory finger-pointing on who might have been the perpetrators and on tendencies of self-arming among the targeted Afghan Shia communities (in German).

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„Historischer Fehler“? Der Abzug der westlichen Streitkräfte aus Afghanistan hat begonnen

Journal21.ch, 6 May 2021 The Swiss news portal quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the US troop withdrawal from Afghanistan: Trotzdem bezeichnen manche in den USA den Abzug aus Afghanistan als „historischen Fehler“. Doch die USA hatten „only bad choices“, sagte Thomas Ruttig, der Co-Direktor des „Afghanistan Analysts Network“.

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Afghanistan: Verbrannte Erde

junge Welt, 4 May 2021 The Berlin-based leftwing daily quotes AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on the misappropriated funds for Afghan reconstruction from an op-ed for Berlin-based Tagesspiegel: Zuschüsse in Milliardenhöhe für den Wiederaufbau (…) befeuerten, wie der Afghanistan-Experte Thomas Ruttig am Donnerstag im Tagesspiegel schrieb, »eine Warlord-Kaste, die die Hilfsgelder aufsaugte und unter den Augen des NATO-Militärs mit […]

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Kandahar Dispatch: Day 1 of the End of the U.S. War in Afghanistan

New York Times, 3 May 2021 “The scenes over the weekend were almost as if a multitrillion-dollar war machine had morphed into a garage sale. At the airfield’s peak in 2010 and 2011, its famous and much derided boardwalk housed snack shops, chain restaurants, a hockey rink and trinket stores. Tens of thousands of U.S. and NATO […]

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Biden marks 10 years since bin Laden raid

Yahoo News, 2 May 2021 This news items quotes from Kate Clark’s recent AAN analysis of repercussions of the current US troops withdrawal from Afghanistan: Few have faith in the peace negotiations under way between the Taliban and the government. Ending the war through negotiations is the “least likely scenario,” said the Afghanistan Analysts Network, […]

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As the U.S. departs Afghanistan, will the old Taliban reemerge?

Washington Post, 1 May 2021 In this article by Missy Ryan and Susannah George, AAN’s Thomas Ruttig is both quoted directly and from his recently published article at West Point’s CTC Sentinel: Thomas Ruttig, co-director of the Afghanistan Analysts Network, said he believes the Taliban is waiting to gauge its strength relative to other parties, […]

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