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.

Guns, Girls and Grizzled Warriors: Ismail Khan’s mujahedin council project in the West

Fabrizio Foschini •

The phenomenon of Afghan strongmen visiting their home provinces and delivering fiery speeches to their ‘traditional’ constituencies is all but new. Still, it has intensified as of late, as the transition process is said to progress and the next presidential election approaches. The most recent rendition given by the Minister of Water and Energy, Ismail […]

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The Asia Foundation’s 2012 survey and how to read opinion polls in Afghanistan

Martine van Bijlert •

On 14 November the Asia Foundation released its 2012 ‘Survey of the Afghan People’, based on data collected by ACSOR (Afghan Center for Socio-Economic Research), a Kabul-based research organisation that has done the data collection for almost all large publicly released opinion polls. It is the eighth survey in its kind: the first was released […]

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Just about over the First Hill: Pakistan’s Release of Afghan Taleban

Thomas Ruttig •

The release of a number of Afghan Taleban by Pakistan, as announced on 14 November, may prove crucial for an urgently needed breakthrough on a political settlement in Afghanistan. It is also the first big personal success for Rabbani Junior at the helm of the Afghan High Peace Council. But too much optimism would be […]

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Put Principles Back at Centre-Stage: Women’s Rights in Afghanistan

Ann Wilkens •

While the international community focuses on transition and disengagement from Afghanistan, women´s rights – invoked to justify the 2001 anti-Taleban intervention and thereafter used whenever handy – have again been relegated to the back burner. The continued prioritisation of prosecuting women for ‘moral crimes’ while – despite some recent high-profile cases – under-emphasising rape cases […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Legal, illegal: Militia recruitment and (failed) disarmament in Kunduz

Gran Hewad •

Kunduz has a long and troubled history of militia presence. In addition to militia units developed by the Ministry of Interior (MoI), the provincial National Directorate for Security (NDS) also recruited some, starting in late 2008. Then, starting last year, the provincial security officials attempted to disarm some militias again, in response to complaints by […]

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The Ulama Council: paid to win public minds – but do they?

Borhan Osman •

The largest religious body in Afghanistan is the National Ulama Council, which was set up by President Karzai almost a decade ago. The president’s hope, expressed at the time, was that the council – with its 3,000 members from across the country, all of whom receive government salaries – would help him win political support […]

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On the Roof of the World: The Last Kyrgyz in Afghanistan

S Reza Kazemi •

At most 2,000 individuals, pastoralists living for centuries in the harsh environment of Afghanistan’s north-easternmost Pamir region, are the last remaining ethnic Kyrgyz in Afghanistan. As a part of its nationalist discourse, post-Soviet Kyrgyzstan has been vocally politicking, but not doing much in practice, for the return of these Kyrgyz ‘brethren’ to their titular homeland, […]

Context and Culture Read more

A thin line between insurgency and local politics in Badakhshan

Fabrizio Foschini •

The competition between strongmen in Badakhshan until recently took place mainly at the local level – commanders would vie with each other for the control of poppy cultivation and trafficking or mine extraction. Patronage from the centre, from the Badakhshi politicians in Kabul, had also been a vital component of these struggles, but until recently […]

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Election Date Fixed, but Questions Remain on Next Steps

Thomas Ruttig •

Afghanistan has a date for its next presidential elections: 5 April 2014. But today’s announcement by the Independent Election Commission of a timeline leading up to this date leaves questions open about its implementation. First, there are contradictory statements about whether the old, controversial voter cards will be used again. Second, the IEC aims at […]

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Guest Blog: The Andar Uprising – Co-opted, divided and stuck in a dilemma

Emal Habib •

More than five months into the Andar uprising, the anti-Taleban rebellion supported by the government and US forces has failed to unite the local tribe under its banner. Differences between participating groups have further sharpened as the government’s attempt to turn it into its proxy (and integrate it into the Afghan Local Police) has become […]

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Warning Bells over Slow Electoral Reform and Voter Registration for 2014

Thomas Ruttig •

A number of organisations have warned that electoral reform in the run-up to the 2014 polls in Afghanistan is moving too slowly. Two issues stand out: the lack of a voter registry and the lack of a revised electoral law. The recent argument about whether the future ECC should include UN-nominated members or not is […]

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Living in a Minefield: Panjwayi after the US Surge

Borhan Osman •

In the words of one local elder, life in Panjwayi resembles living in a minefield. The district just southwest of Kandahar city has been a major arena for the US troop surge that was ordered in 2009 by President Obama dispatching 33,000 additional troops to Afghanistan. The surge ended in September this year and was […]

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