Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Fabrizio Foschini

Bad Lieutenants in Nimruz

Fabrizio Foschini •

Nimruz lies at one of the forgotten edges of Afghanistan, so forgotten that it is possibly the province generating the lowest amount of news per square kilometre. A most brutal and brazen episode of violence involving the police there offers AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini the occasion to report on the province and its main feature – […]

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Conflicts in the East, part II

Fabrizio Foschini •

Coalition’s concerns arising from the increasingly aggressive and assertive behaviour of insurgent groups, or from their very identity and international connections, are not limited to Loya Paktia and the locally dominant Haqqani network. Following Petraeus’s guidelines and moving further East, one arrives in what has sometimes been termed Loy Nangrahar (Nangrahar, Laghman, Kunar, Nuristan – […]

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Conflict going East, conflict going on

Fabrizio Foschini •

The US-led Coalition has declared that its troops’ new strategic focus will be on eastern Afghanistan, after its claims of gains made in southern Afghanistan last year. Although the bad security situation in the East is not new, the recent emphasis on it may be mainly linked to the increased interest (and concern) of the […]

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The Enteqal Seven (6): What is left to transition in Kabul

Fabrizio Foschini •

Against the blazing red background of increasingly brazen attacks carried out inside the capital, Kabul province moves towards the imminent transition of security. How this is going to affect the situation in the province, as the city and most of the districts have already been transitioned de facto in 2008-09, is not clear. However, it […]

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Where criminals forgive themselves

Fabrizio Foschini •

The Afghan Civil Society Forum (ACSFo) today released a report titled ‘How People Define Violence and Justice in Afghanistan (1958 – 2008)’. Prepared by ACSFo with the funding of the Heinrich-Bӧll-Stiftung, the report provides a valuable insight into Afghans’ perceptions of these two concepts, drawn by their extensive experience of at least the first of […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Looking at the Azra Hospital Attack (amended)

Thomas Ruttig • Fabrizio Foschini •

The suicide car-bomb attack that destroyed the civilian hospital of Logar’s eastern-most district Azra on 25 June was terrible even for Afghan standards, with now [amended: 29] registered dead and 53 wounded. Amongst the victims were reportedly 15 children waiting for immunisation as well as five toddlers; the 10-bed maternity ward completely destroyed. But the […]

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Who cares about the Kuchi-Hazara conflict, nowadays?

Fabrizio Foschini •

Having lost hope of not witnessing outbursts of Kuchi-Hazara related violence at least for this year, AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini reports on the recent conflict in Ghazni province, on the situation in neighbouring areas, and a perceived lack of interest on the matter on part of the government and the mass media. It looked as if […]

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Old Traditions and New Virtuosos in Kharabat

Fabrizio Foschini •

On 14 June, the day marking the anniversary of both birth and death of the Afghan song genius, Ahmad Zahir, reflectors may have been pointed to his grave in Shuhada-ye Salihin, where commemoration and musical events took place. But not too far from there, in Kucha-e Kharabat, the musicians’ quarter in the Old City, another […]

Context and Culture Read more

The Peace Process in Nangrahar; what people say

Fabrizio Foschini •

It has been a year since the Peace Jirga in Kabul endorsed the Afghanistan Peace and Reintegration Program, APRP (still only a draft then), and the start of the peace process with the successive creation of the High Peace Council. We have been hearing almost everything about it, good or bad, in Kabul. But what […]

Political Landscape Read more

Towards a More United Voice of Afghan Civil Society: Step Two

Fabrizio Foschini •

During the last week of May a delegation of Afghan civil society activists visited Italy in a follow-up to the Kabul conference of two months ago, by the title ‘Promoting Dialogue and Peace in Afghanistan: Strengthening Afghan Civil Society’. AAN’s Fabrizio Foschini followed to Rome the members of the steering committee composed of several Afghan […]

International Engagement Read more

The Enteqal Seven (4): Herat, the Seeds of Fear

Fabrizio Foschini •

Herat was a logical choice for the transition: rich, cultivated, well-connected, Herat makes the kind of city that can stand on its own feet without much effort. But of course, transition comes with a price. As it seems more and more apparent, the insurgents are keen on targeting these new would-be symbols of success for […]

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The Enteqal Seven (2): Around Mehtarlam, an ‘insurgency corridor’ in the making

Fabrizio Foschini •

The start of the Taleban spring offensive is not stopping preparations that are on track for the announced transfer of security to Afghan forces, beginning in July. In the Eastern region, however, besides the scheduled transition in Mehtarlam district of Laghman, a much more problematic development can be witnessed, as US troops that abandon positions […]

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