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.

Over-promising, Under-delivering: The Outcome of the Afghanistan Conference in Kazakhstan

S Reza Kazemi •

The third Afghanistan-focussed ‘Heart of Asia’, also known as Istanbul Process, ministerial conference came to an end on 26 April 2013 in Almaty, Kazakhstan. At least three issues stood out: (1) the growing importance the Afghan government attaches to the regional initiative towards and after 2014, (2) the major conflicts involving some of the prominent […]

International Engagement Read more

What exactly is the CIA doing in Afghanistan? Proxy militias and two airstrikes in Kunar

Kate Clark •

AAN has discovered that the NATO airstrike on Kunar on 13 April 2013 which killed as many as 17 civilians was the second strike on almost the same location to have been requested by the same mixed Afghan/CIA force. President Karzai’s spokesman has reported the president’s assertion – and anger – that the Afghan unit […]

War and Peace Read more

Passing the Electoral Law: Four Controversies Down, Seven More to Go

Martine van Bijlert •

The Wolesi Jirga has started to tackle the Electoral Law and is now going through the remaining controversial articles. The discussions so far have included shouting matches and near-fights, providing a taste of what may still come, particularly as the session inches towards what held the Parliament hostage for weeks in 2008: the issue of […]

Political Landscape Read more

A New Round of Anti-Sherzai Protests In Nangarhar

Fabrizio Foschini • Obaid Ali •

In a five day-long protest in the Nangarhar provincial centre of Jalalabad, thousands of demonstrators have demanded the immediate dismissal of governor Gul Agha Sherzai for alleged involvement in corruption, embezzlement of development funds, illegal land grabs and for failing to protect Afghan territory from Pakistani inroads. The protestors were led, among others, by MP […]

Political Landscape Read more

Afghanistan Conference in Kazakhstan: Will the ‘Heart of Asia’ Start Throbbing?

S Reza Kazemi •

The ‘Heart of Asia’ process that was launched in November 2011 in Turkey aims to galvanise regional co-operation for security and development in Afghanistan and its near and extended neighbourhood. Approximately a year and a half has passed, with a hard-to-track number of conferences and meetings. The latest is to take place on 26 April […]

International Engagement Read more

The Making of Another ‘Uprising’: The ALP in Panjwayi

Borhan Osman •

The US government and US media are upbeat about a new ‘uprising’ against the Taleban in its heartland in Kandahar. Such a revolt in Panjwayi district would be of particular importance given the area’s status as the birthplace of the Taleban leadership. AAN’s Borhan Osman who has travelled to the area finds, however, that what […]

War and Peace Read more

Operation Resolute Restraint: The German Troop Offer for Post-2014

Thomas Ruttig •

The German government has surged ahead by offering concrete troop numbers for the ISAF successor mission to begin in January 2015. What is sold as taking the lead is mainly dictated by domestic considerations (general elections in September) and the urge to stay in the comparatively calm north of Afghanistan to avoid casualties. AAN’s Senior […]

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Now ‘Informal’, Soon Illegal? Political parties’ existence threatened again (amended)

Thomas Ruttig •

The Afghan government has started another attempt to make life difficult for the country’s political parties. One year after a disputed re-registration of all parties ended, it threatens them now with suspension because, it says, none of them have a sufficient presence in the required minimum number of provinces as stipulated in a by-law to […]

Political Landscape Read more

Pre-Electoral Consultations: the palace is looking for a new IEC head

Martine van Bijlert •

On 9 April 2013 the President called a broad consultative meeting to discuss the selection of a new IEC chairman. The tumultuous term of the current head, Fazl Ahmad Manawi, ends this coming week. The main opposition representatives publicly declined the invitation, terming the meeting illegal, while others – including the generally pro-Karzai jihadi leaders […]

Political Landscape Read more

Summoning the Ministers: parliament damages its own image

Thomas Ruttig • Gran Hewad •

At a time when President Karzai’s last turn in office is getting closer to its end, the Afghan parliament has been turning up the pressure on the cabinet. It was not the first time MPs had summoned ministers to answer inquiries about their performance, with the threat of voting them out of office. This time, […]

Political Landscape Read more

Is the Taleban Insurgency a Holy or an Unholy War? An Afghan-Pakistani ulema debate

Borhan Osman •

The Pakistani ulema were never particularly vocal supporters of the current Taleban’s insurgency in Afghanistan until the Afghan government approached them to talk about peace. Or at least their support had not been expressed publicly before. Then one Pakistani mulla, Maulana Tahir Ashrafi, head of the Pakistan Ulema Council, made such controversial remarks about suicide […]

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Security at the Fringes: the case of Shujai in Khas Uruzgan

Martine van Bijlert •

The build-up of the formal Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) is one of the main pillars of the transition strategy. However, in practice many security responsibilities are, and will continue to be, held by a myriad of hybrid and auxiliary forces that often operate under unclear lines of authority. Observers and media have been describing […]

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