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.

Where Fear has Replaced Trust: Some Reflections after the World Humanitarian Day in Afghanistan

Sari Kouvo •

Probably not so many of us know, but on 19 August, we celebrated the World Humanitarian Day. On that day, AAN’s Sari Kouvo and Naheed Esar Malikzay stumbled into a small ceremony in Kabul celebrating humanitarian work* and were inspired to explore the situation of Afghan humanitarian and development workers.** The stories Sari and Naheed […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Nine out, nine in: 240 in between

Fabrizio Foschini •

Yesterday, at the beginning of the first parliamentary session after Eid holidays, the Wolesi Jirga shut its doors to the nine MPs who had been excluded by the Independent Electoral Commission, and part of it welcomed the nine newly declared winners instead. At the same time, part of the MPs protested (outside the Parliament) against […]

Political Landscape Read more

Guest blog: Reintegration of Taleban in Badghis: A Success or a Nightmare?

Monica Bernabe •

Badghis, in northwestern Afghanistan, is the province where the most Taleban have laid down their weapons and joined the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program (APRP). The Spanish journalist Mònica Bernabé* travelled in June to Qala-e Naw, Badghis capital. By that month, 593 Taleban had laid down their weapons. Last week, the number had grown to […]

War and Peace Read more

Guest Blog: Where Fiction and Reality Meet: A Decade of Afghan Cinema

Martin Gerner •

‘A country which used to produce a revolution as often as a film’, the International Film Guide said about Afghanistan in 1983, pointing to the dearth of film-making in the country. Post-Taleban, this has changed. The past decade, there has been an explosion in Afghan film making, with the production of mostly independently produced, short […]

Context and Culture Read more

AAN reads: Junger’s ‘War’

Thomas Ruttig •

When I read one of the first reportages coming out from the Korengal, not by Sebastian Junger, in early 2008*, my first association was Francis Ford Coppola’s ‘Apocalypse Now’. Later, the first video clips came out that even aggravated this impression. Now the full book is out, and it is as powerful as Norman Mailer’s […]

Context and Culture Read more

Death of an Uruzgan Journalist: who killed him? (amended)

Kate Clark •

When the journalist, Omaid Khpulwak, was killed on 28 July 2011 during a Taleban attack, Uruzgan province lost its most gifted reporters. He was one of dozens of casualties that day, including 18 other civilians, 10 of them children, who were also killed. However, there is evidence that Omaid, who worked for Pahjwok News agency […]

War and Peace Read more

Advice to Libya on advisors: just say no!

Kate Clark •

Those watching or listening to the news from Libya can only hope for a speedy and peaceful resolution. At AAN, we were concerned to hear that the Libyan people, having suffered more than four decades of dictatorship and now six months of war, are about to be descended upon by western ‘stabilisation advisors’, as AAN […]

War and Peace Read more

Bad Lieutenants in Nimruz

Fabrizio Foschini •

Nimruz lies at one of the forgotten edges of Afghanistan, so forgotten that it is possibly the province generating the lowest amount of news per square kilometre. A most brutal and brazen episode of violence involving the police there offers AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini the occasion to report on the province and its main feature – […]

War and Peace Read more

A new result for the parliamentary election?

Martine van Bijlert •

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has finally announced its decision: the removal and replacement of nine parliamentarians (eight men and one woman).* This is far fewer than the 62 ordered by the Special Court (and confirmed by the Supreme Court in no uncertain language last week), but obviously more than the ‘no changes at all’ […]

Political Landscape Read more

The Great Hindukush Gold Rush (2): Afghanistan is not Chad (yet?)

Thomas Ruttig •

There is plenty of evidence from all over the world that indicates that mineral wealth can easily turn into a curse – environmentally, socially, politically and even economically. It also can exacerbate conflict, instead of alleviating it. A particular example is the Central African country of Chad*, and it should warn both the Afghan government […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Flash from the Past: Taleban Independence Day 2001 (now with video) (2)

Thomas Ruttig •

This is a follow-up to Kate Clark’s blog describing how Afghan Independence Days were celebrated during the Taleban rule. In 2001, the Taleban indeed organised some events in order to give Kabulis, who had not experienced much of this under their rule, a rare day of joy, with a small festival, students’ parades, exhibitions and […]

War and Peace Read more

Flash From the Past: Afghanistan Independence Day 2001, 2000

Kate Clark •

In 2000, the Taleban celebrated Afghan Independence Day with military parades and cultural events. A year later, they were focussing heavily on the military. As AAN senior analyst, Kate Clark, (then the BBC Kabul correspondent), reported at the time, during those 12 months, hardliners in the movement had come even more strongly into the ascendant, […]

Political Landscape Read more

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