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.

Elections 2014 (30): Some initial reflections on E-Day II

Thomas Ruttig •

The counting of second round votes from the presidential elections is still under way in much of Afghanistan, although results are now trickling in from some polling stations. Meanwhile, everyone is trying to assess how well the second round went: the impact of security incidents, level of fraud and, especially importantly, how big the turnout […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Elections 2014 (29): The second round election day in snapshots from the provinces

AAN Team •

How did the second round election day go? After our collection of voices from the provinces on the day before the vote (read here) as well as on the first round election day (see here), we continued to listen to our Afghan friends, analysts and acquaintances across the country. We asked them if they had been as eager to vote as […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections (28): Last minute procedural changes to pacify candidate complaints

Martine van Bijlert •

In the run-up to the second round vote, the Independent Election Commission (IEC), has made some changes to how it will run the vote this time. This has mainly been in response to complaints and pressure from the two remaining candidates. The IEC has increased the number of polling stations, has fired several thousand of […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (27): Snapshots from the provinces before the second round vote

AAN Team •

How do Afghans feel about the second round of the presidential election ahead tomorrow, Saturday, 14 June? How do they perceive the security situation, the campaigning of the two contenders, the election authorities’ performance – and are they still as ready to go and cast a vote as many of them were in the first round? Like […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (26): The other possible vice president – Dr Abdullah’s running mate Muhammad Khan

Kate Clark •

Much has been written about Dr Ashraf Ghani’s choice of running mate, General Abdul Rashid Dostum – a ticket characterised as ‘technocrat plus warlord’ – but very little has been heard from or about the other man who might become Afghanistan’s next first vice president, Muhammad Khan. Apart from his being a senior Hezb-e Islami […]

Political Landscape Read more

Elections 2014 (25): Election mobilisation of women in the Pashtun southeast

Pakteen Ibrahimi • Thomas Ruttig •

For the second round of the presidential election on 14 June 2014, some of the major tribes in Paktia have decided their women should also participate more actively, allowing them to cast their votes themselves. Women turnout in Pashtun-inhabited areas is usually below average, which is increasingly being perceived as a disadvantage by candidates relying […]

Political Landscape Read more

Security Forces Spread Thin: An update from contested Faryab province

Obaid Ali •

On the day after the Afghan vote, nearly unnoticed in the election frenzy, Faryab province experienced yet another complex Taleban attack. Taleban fighters stormed large parts of Qaisar district, and ruled the area for almost three weeks. The Afghan National Police (ANP) and Afghan Local Police (ALP) retreated immediately, outnumbered and faced with more and […]

War and Peace Read more

Elections 2014 (24): The IECC’s performance addressing provincial council complaints

Martine van Bijlert • Qayoom Suroush •

While most observers are focused on the upcoming second round of the presidential election, the process surrounding the provincial council vote is still ongoing. The Independent Electoral Complaints Commission (IECC) finished its open sessions last week and, in response to allegations of manipulation by IEC staff, ordered a widespread recount of votes, which had already […]

Political Landscape Read more

Election 2014 (23): Deals and insults in Afghanistan’s second round campaign

AAN Team •

Less than a week before the second round of the presidential election on 14 June 2014, the campaigns of both contenders are well under way. Alongside the main campaign methods of the first round – billboards, large public rallies – the process of deal-making and recruiting influential supporters seems to have now moved to the […]

Political Landscape Read more

Death in Aleppo: A group of Afghan fighters located in Syria

Christopher Reuter •

Are Afghans fighting in the war in Syria? There have been a few reports to that effect in the international news media over the past months, detailing recruitment efforts mainly by the Iranian government among Hazaras in order to bolster the Assad regime’s manpower. However, there has never been evidence of Afghan fighters actually present in […]

War and Peace Read more

Bergdahl and the ‘Guantanamo Five’: The long-awaited US-Taleban prisoner swap

Kate Clark •

The prisoner swap negotiated between the Taleban and United States has seen the release of the captured US soldier, Sergeant Bowe Bergdahl, in return for five Taleban held at Guantanamo Bay, including one of the movement’s founders, Khairullah Khairkhwa, and the former chief of the army staff, Mullah Fazl. Much of the reporting on the […]

International Engagement Read more

How good are Afghanistan’s private universities? An interview with the author of AAN’s latest paper

AAN Team •

AAN is launching its latest paper, looking at the state of Afghanistan’s private higher education sector (download paper here). Over the past five years, private universities have experienced an unprecedented boom. This is not only good news. In this interview, the author of the paper, Niamatullah Ibrahimi (*), an Afghan analysts who has extensively researched and written about current and […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up