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.

Narges Nehan, President Ghani's nominee for the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum, was the only one among twelve minister candidates who was denied a vote of confidence by the Afghan lower house on 6 December 2017. Here, when she was introduced as acting minister in March 2017. Photo: ToloNews

Afghanistan Has Now a Constitutional Cabinet: Eleven minister candidates received votes of confidence

AAN Team • Thomas Ruttig •

For almost a year, more than half of Afghanistan’s cabinet members were in an acting minister capacity only, putting their legitimacy into question. In late November 2017, the President finally had 12 minister candidates introduced to parliament. They faced votes of confidence on 4 December 2017. All but one – the only woman – passed. […]

Political Landscape Read more

Kuja Meri? Joel van Houdt’s street photo exhibition on Afghan migration

Jelena Bjelica •

Joel van Houdt, an independent Dutch photojournalist, who lived in Afghanistan for several years, has recently returned to Kabul to exhibit his photography on Afghan migration. The exhibition, entitled “Kuja meri? – Where are you going?”, comprises a series of about 50 photos that focus entirely on Afghanistan’s refugees and is displayed on the outer […]

Migration Read more
Ministry of Finance says next year’s budget is committed to focussing Afghanistan’s “declining resources” on priority areas such as education. Photo: schoolchildren in Nad Ali, Helmand 2010, ISAF)

The 2018 Afghan National Budget: Confronting hard realities by accelerating reforms

Bill Byrd • Kate Clark •

Afghanistan’s budget for the next financial year, 1397/2018, is markedly different from previous ones. This is a budget written to ‘international standards’, giving more information, both on 2018 and earlier years, as well as future projections, with detail at the level of ministry, project and province. The Ministry of Finance has tried to be realistic […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (2): A tight date and a debate about technology

Ali Yawar Adili •

The Independent Election Commission of Afghanistan (IEC) has announced 7 July 2018 as the date for the next parliamentary (and district councils) elections. It has started the preparations for the elections, but has been grappling with a lack of clarity about the budget and decisions about the use of technology in the elections. These issues […]

Political Landscape Read more
Hezb-e Islami leader Hekmatyar is received in Kabul's presidential palace by President Ashraf Ghani and his predecessor Hamed Karzai in May 2017. Photo: Tolo

A Matter of Registration: Factional tensions in Hezb-e Islami

Thomas Ruttig •

Hezb-e Islami has run into a legal conflict over registration. This hampers efforts to re-unite the party’s various factions after the return of its ‘historical’ leader, Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, and in the run-up to the elections planned for 2018. It also reflects internal dynamics between a more pragmatic wing of Hezb-e Islami, which is participating in […]

Political Landscape Read more
The Rome Statute was adopted in the UN Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court in 1998. The Afghan Mujaheddin Government sent a delegation, which was led by current Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, to the Conference. That time Abdullah Abdullah was the Deputy of Foreign Affairs Ministry.

Questions and Answers about the International Criminal Court and its Afghanistan Investigation

AAN Team •

On 20 November, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) finally published her request to open a formal investigation into war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Afghanistan. This means that the Prosecutor agrees with the result of the preliminary examination showing that crimes meeting the ICC gravity threshold have been committed in […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more
A still image from video posted online by the Organisation for the Protection of Bulgarian Citizens (OPBC), which shows three Afghan migrants captured by the group near the Bulgarian-Turkish border. Photo: Open source.

Far Beneath the European Average: The treatment of Afghan migrants in Bulgaria

Jelena Bjelica •

Many Afghan migrants have been opting to travel through Bulgaria, a country bordering Turkey, on their journey to western and northern Europe. This route, while safer than a sea crossing, comes with its own terrifying experiences, as first-hand testimonies of migrants collected by different human rights organisations have shown. In Bulgaria, Afghan migrants are not […]

Migration Read more

Afghanistan Election Conundrum (1): Political pressure on commissioners puts 2018 vote in doubt

Ali Yawar Adili •

While struggling to prepare for the parliamentary (and supposedly also district council) elections scheduled for the 7 July 2018, the Independent Election Commission (IEC) and Electoral Complaints Commission (ECC) are finding themselves under increasing fire from a growing number of political groups and election observer bodies. There have been allegations of financial corruption, government interference […]

Political Landscape Read more
Poppy field in Helmand. Photo: AAN Staff

A Low-Risk Crop in a High-Risk Environment: Annual opium survey shows Afghan poppy cultivation at a record high

Jelena Bjelica •

More opium was grown and more opium paste produced in Afghanistan in 2017 than in any year since the United Nations Office for Drugs and Crime’s (UNODC) began monitoring in 1994. The UNODC’s annual Afghanistan Opium Survey, released today, has shown that 328,000 hectares of land were used to grow poppy this year, an increase […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
A view on Qush Tepe district centre. Photo: Muhammad Tamkeen

Qari Hekmat’s Island: A Daesh enclave in Jawzjan?

Obaid Ali •

The Taleban have failed either to re-enlist or to eliminate a dissident commander in Jawzjan who, as a result of internal Taleban conflicts over territorial control and taxation, has aligned himself with Daesh. A recent military offensive – in which fighters from several provinces were mobilised – remained unsuccessful in the second half of October. […]

War and Peace Read more
Damage to the Paktia police and army headquarters in Gardez after the first Taleban attack in June 2017. Photo: Tolo.

The ‘Humvee Bomb’ Series: The October wave of Taleban attacks in 2017 context

Thomas Ruttig •

In October 2017, Afghans experienced another particularly violent period. A series of high-profile insurgent attacks took place almost simultaneously in Kabul and five provinces. Provincial and district centres were targeted, as well as ANSF installations and Sunni and Shia mosques. The overall number of people killed in these attacks is estimated to be over 200, […]

War and Peace Read more
Civilian victims of a Taleban attack in Daulatabad, Faryab, June 2014. Will an investigation lead to justice for victims like these? Credit: Pajhwok Afghan news

One Step Closer to War Crimes Trials (2): ICC Prosecutor requests authorisation to investigate

Ehsan Qaane • Kate Clark •

International Criminal Court (ICC) Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has requested judicial authorisation to open an investigation into crimes allegedly committed in connection to the Afghan armed conflict. If the judges of the court’s Pre-Trial Chamber agree, there could now be investigations of the Taleban for many types of war crimes and crimes against humanity, and Afghan […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up