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.

"Torture tarnishes the image of the state." Photo: ToloNews.

Because of Impunity: UN reports Afghan forces still torturing Afghans

Kate Clark •

It is two years since UNAMA last reported on torture by Afghan security forces of detainees suspected of conflict-related crimes. In the wake of its 2013 report, former President Karzai was stung into investigating the matter and instituted steps to try to root torture out. ISAF also strengthened its monitoring of detainees it transferred to […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Six Days That Shook Kabul: The ‘3 Hut uprising’, first urban protest against the Soviet occupation

Thomas Ruttig •

Today 35 years ago, the first large, urban uprising against the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan took place in Kabul. It was eight weeks after Soviet tanks had rolled into the country to save the regime of the PDPA, which had taken over power in a coup d’etat 20 months earlier and quickly run up against […]

Context and Culture Read more

The Human Cost of the Afghan War: UN reports sharp rise in the killed and injured

Kate Clark •

Evidence – if more was needed – of the intensification of the Afghan war has come in the United Nations’ annual report on civilian casualties. 25 per cent more civilians were killed in the conflict in 2014 than in 2013, almost all Afghans by Afghans. Most civilians are now being killed in ground engagements, an […]

War and Peace Read more

Electoral Reform, or rather: Who will control Afghanistan’s next election?

Martine van Bijlert •

President Ghani and Chief Executive Officer Abdullah, in the September 2014 agreement, agreed to electoral reforms “to ensure that future elections are credible.” The details of these reforms, when they should take place and who should design them are, however, proving contentious. Meanwhile, parliament has been working on relevant laws, while commissioners of the Independent […]

Political Landscape Read more
Dr Abdullah and Dr Ghani signing their first bilateral agreement on 8 August 2014.

The President’s CEO Decree: Managing rather than executive powers (now with full translation of the document)

Thomas Ruttig •

It is one of the central documents of the new national unity government, but it has not received much public attention: the presidential decree that lays out the “responsibilities and authorities” of the new Chief Executive Officer and was already issued in December 2014. AAN’s co-director Thomas Ruttig has read the document (find an AAN […]

Political Landscape Read more

The Shadows of ‘Islamic State’ in Afghanistan: What threat does it hold?

Borhan Osman •

The Islamic State (IS) group, also known by an Arabic acronym, Daesh, has gained a toehold in Afghanistan, although with the loss in a drone strike of its most prominent and recently appointed commander, Rauf Khadem, that toehold is looking precarious. Still, the situation has moved on from when AAN last reported on IS in […]

War and Peace Read more

Power to the People: How to extend Afghans’ access to electricity

Mohsin Amin •

More than four billion dollars have, to date, been spent on Afghanistan’s power infrastructure. And yet there are still considerable deficiencies, even in the country’s capital, which has seen most of the investment – and most of the progress. At the same time, the demand for electricity is rapidly growing and the supply-demand gap has […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
WJ cabinet vote MPs voted to endorse or reject the candidate ministers put forward by the National Unity Government. 9 got the vote. 10 failed. Photo: Pajhwok News Agency.

Winnowing the Cabinet List: MPs vote, nine of 27 ministers endorsed

Kate Clark •

Afghanistan finally has some ministers – nine men; yes, all those who succeeded in getting the lower house’s endorsement were male. Today (26 January 2015), the Wolesi Jirga rejected ten other candidates, while eight other prospective ministers had already fallen by the wayside (because of having a second passport, a criminal conviction, not having a […]

Political Landscape Read more
Portrait Masume. Photo: Gervasio Sánchez.

Women Suffering, Women Looking for Ways Out: A photo exhibition in Barcelona

Thomas Ruttig •

 “A woman who wants to marry the man who raped her. . . . Brides ending up mutilated after their first sexual experience. . . . Women with university training and a career condemned to live with husbands they do not love because, if they divorce, they would lose their children.” These are captions to […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Battleground Kankur: Afghan students’ difficult way into higher education

Obaid Ali •

For some hundred thousand Afghan high school graduates, the university entry tests, known as kankur, have started. The first to sit the exam, from December onwards, were students in more-remote provinces, for example Badghis, Bamyan, Daikundi, Nuristan, Wardak, Logar and Sar-e Pul. Pictures of rows of students sitting on city squares  or mosques taking the […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
Picture show the full proposed cabinet seated in Afghanistan's Wolesi Jirga hall.

The Cabinet and the Parliament: Afghanistan’s government in trouble before it is formed

Kate Clark •

President Ashraf Ghani has introduced his cabinet to the parliament, which now has to confirm or reject his candidates. But by the time the list was officially presented to the MPs on Tuesday, 20 January 2015, he had already lost three prospective ministers and the position of several others was looking shaky. The choices of […]

Political Landscape Read more

Going in Circles: The never-ending story of Afghanistan’s unfinished Ring Road

Qayoom Suroush •

Since the presidential campaign and during trips abroad President Ashraf Ghani has been promising to turn Afghanistan into an “Asian roundabout” for regional trade and transit. However, for this, Afghanistan would need to improve its transport systems and build new and better roads. That is probably why, in his first cabinet meeting, on 2 October […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

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