Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Christopher Reuter

Murad and Sayyed in their neon-lit basement prison in Aleppo, Syria. They are being held by Syrian rebels who want to exchange them, but find no one interested in their prisoners. Photo: screenshot from a video taken by Christoph Reuter

Murad’s War: An Afghan face to the Syrian conflict

Christopher Reuter •

In Syria, the Assad regime is running out of soldiers and is increasingly relying on mercenaries. Many are Shiites – Lebanese Hezbollah militiamen, Iranians, Iraqis, Pakistanis and Yemenis. But no group is represented to the degree that the Afghan Hazara are. AAN guest author Christoph Reuter (*) has met two of them – recruited in […]

War and Peace 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

When Rumour Replaces Logic – The Takhar Killing

Christopher Reuter •

When General Mohammed Daud Daud, the highest police officer of the northeast and commander of the Pamir region, was killed by a meticulously prepared bomb in the Takhar governor’s office on May 28th, one thing at least seemed to be clear: who was behind it – in particular after the Taleban proudly announced their responsibility. […]

War and Peace Read more

Guest Blog: A former Afghanistan jihadi in Libya’s revolution

Christopher Reuter •

Our guest blogger Christoph Reuter(*) has met a former Afghanistan fighter in the liberated city of Darnah and found that Libya’s Islamists do not need a jihadi valve anymore. They even do not attempt to hijack the Libyan revolution – which is secular in character, like the ones in Egypt and Tunisia. When about a […]

War and Peace Read more

Ten Dead in Badakhshan (2)

Christopher Reuter • Michael Semple •

We follow up our reporting on the murder of ten aid workers on Thursday with two contributions from guest authors, Michael Semple and Christoph Reuter (1). They shed more light on three of the victims, Dan Terry, Daniela Beyer and Karen Woo; Michael additionally analyses the status of the insurgency in the area the killings […]

War and Peace Read more

The Northern Front: The Afghan Insurgency Spreading beyond the Pashtuns

Antonio Giustozzi • Christopher Reuter •

One of the key developments in Afghanistan during the last year is the expansion of insurgent activity in the northern region. The latest AAN briefing paper analyses this expansion and points to the crucial fact that the Taleban are expanding their constituency into non-Pashtun areas. The paper is authored by Antonio Giustozzi, prominent scholar of […]

Special Reports Read more

Some Birds with One Stone

Christopher Reuter •

Pakistan is establishing a new Taleban leadership that is more aggressive, less inclined to talk and primarily follows the instructions of its ISI minders, says Christoph Reuter(1). With this aim, it manipulates different leaders of militant groups, using targeted arrests and ‘invitations’ into ‘guesthouses’. When it became known on 16 Februar that the number three […]

War and Peace Read more

AAN Guest Blog: Influenza politica

Christopher Reuter •

The following blog about a government-made swine flu hysteria is provided by CHRISTOPH REUTER, a reporter with ‘Stern’ magazine in Germany who is currently in Kabul. On 28 October, Afghanistan‘s Minister of Public Health issued a press release that did not receive much attention: Currently there were 58 cases of H1N1, better known as swine […]

Political Landscape Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up