Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Reports

Reports – previously known as dispatches – are the flagship of the AAN website and our main type of publication. AAN reports are based on extensive desk and field research and provide timely and in-depth information and analysis.

Withdrawal in 2014? Myths and realities

Thomas Ruttig •

A series of contradictory statements about a possible earlier start to the (mainly US) foreign troop drawdown and a quicker handover of security responsibility to Afghan forces, as well as debate over the likely form of NATO’s post-ISAF mission in Afghanistan has caused confusion in the media(1) and wider public sphere recently. Thomas Ruttig, Senior […]

International Engagement Read more

Afghanistan in World Literature (III): Kabuliwalas of the Latter Day

Fabrizio Foschini •

To inaugurate the new course of our Chat Mat column, here we resume our old series aimed at unearthing precious Afghan gems from the stockpile of world literature. Having presented some Victorian pearls earlier in the series, it is time to move to closer quarters, to India and to what was arguably its most anglicised […]

Context and Culture Read more

‘Pashto Mashto? Nakhair, Chat Mat.’

AAN Team •

Dear readers of Pashto Mashto, As you may have noticed already, with the new year has come a new name for this series, although the content will go on as usual. Here is why. The inaugural blog of this series, back in January 2010, has proven prophetic when it said the series would not, ‘try […]

Context and Culture Read more

The Trouble with Torture: NDS, Special Forces and the CIA

Kate Clark •

Fresh evidence of abuse in more than a dozen NDS and police facilities has been presented in a report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and Open Societies Foundations (OSF). The allegations, which include testimony of security detainees being beaten, given electric shocks and having their genitals wrenched, were described by NDS as […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The ‘Other Bagram’ (1): A Memorandum for handover

Kate Clark •

President Karzai’s legal advisor, Nasrullah Stanekzai, has confirmed to AAN that there will be detention without trial of Afghans by Afghans when the Detention Facility at Parwan (DFIP), also referred to simply as ‘Bagram’, is handed over to Afghan government control, at the latest, on 8 September 2012. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Afghan New Year: Sal-e Naw Mubarak

Kate Clark •

Three swallows were sighted in the skies over Kabul by members of the AAN team this week – a welcome harbinger of spring after this year’s long, cold winter. They disappeared again, as a dust storm racked Kabul on the last day of the Afghan year. Nawruz has now dawned, even with grey and gritty […]

Context and Culture Read more

One Year of Transition: A Look Back (2)

Fabrizio Foschini •

Second part of the retrospective look at the last three months’ transitions which took in many Afghan provinces. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini briefly comments on each of these and on some characteristics of the overall process. The second phase of transition continued on 11 January 2012 with a ceremony in the Wardak provincial capital of Maidan […]

International Engagement Read more

One Year of Transition: A Look Back (1)

Fabrizio Foschini •

The second phase of transition, which was announced on 27 November 2011, is drawing to a close after a long winter, and after a turbulent few weeks that have refocused attention on the fall-out over the ongoing conflict. Many more areas of Afghanistan have witnessed an official transfer of security, while information about the third […]

International Engagement Read more

The End of the Affair? Taleban Suspend Talks

Kate Clark •

The Taleban have announced that they are suspending talks with the Americans, only six weeks after the opening of their political office in Qatar. In a statement, they described the US approach as ‘shaky, erratic and vague’ and accused the Americans of breaching a memorandum of understanding which had been previously arrived at. This decision […]

War and Peace Read more

The Kandahar Killing: With friends like this… (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

After the killing of 16 Afghan civilians by a US soldier in Kandahar province, Western military and political officials have – duly – apologised again but also called the incident ‘rogue’, a ‘first time’ or a ‘completely out-of-the-ordinary’ event. Thomas Ruttig, a Senior Analyst at AAN, wonders whether this is the case or whether it […]

War and Peace Read more

Freeing the ‘Guantanamo Five’ 2: Kafka in Cuba

Kate Clark •

Five Taleban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, whose release is a key demand of the Taleban, prior to/as part of peace talks, have said they are willing to be transferred to Qatar. President Karzai had said they had to be handed over to his government, but after a high level visit by Afghan officials, both Taleban […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The Many Owners of Ashab Baba: Land conflict at the Ainak copper mine

Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

So far, after the (re-)discovery of Afghanistan’s mineral wealth, interest has concentrated on the macro-level – how to access and to market it, who won the tenders (and why not American companies*) – or on the cultural heritage aspect, how the Buddhist relics found at the Ainak copper mine can be protected. Now, micro conflicts […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

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