Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Kate Clark

Plants of Afghanistan 1: Centre of Global Biodiversity

Kate Clark •

Among the hundreds of containers bound for Afghanistan which were impounded for over a year at Karachi docks because of a trade dispute were copies of a ground-breaking book on Afghanistan’s plants. S W Breckle and M D Rafiqpoor’s Field Guide Afghanistan: Flora and Vegetation, (1) is unique, the result of decades of work by […]

Context and Culture Read more

The Other Guantanamo 2: the Afghan State begins Internment

Kate Clark •

Sources involved in the handover of Bagram detention facility from the United States to Afghanistan have told AAN that the Afghan state was due to start ruling on the internment of its own citizens there on 22 May 2012. The use of the US system of detention without trial by the Afghan government is probably […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Another Hit at the High Peace Council: Arsala Rahmani Killed (amended)

Kate Clark •

One of the leading reconciled Taleban, Arsala Rahmani, who was also a senator and, until last month, acting head of the High Peace Council, has been shot dead in Kabul. On 3 May, the Taleban declared they would be targeting High Peace Council members in their ‘Spring Offensive’, but a spokesman has said they did […]

Political Landscape Read more

Obama’s visit in ‘pre-dawn darkness’

Kate Clark •

President Obama has visited Afghanistan under cover of darkness, signed a ten year strategic partnership agreement, spoken to the American – although not the Afghan – people from Bagram, claimed near victory over al-Qaida and the Taleban, said a new day was dawning for Afghanistan and left. The Taleban, meanwhile, tried to pretend the visit […]

International Engagement Read more

Likely a legal act of war: Death of an Afghan journalist

Kate Clark •

An investigation into the fatal shooting of an Afghan journalist by a US soldier in July 2011 has raised critical questions about the safety of local reporters working in the field, and the need for greater honesty by ISAF when operations go wrong, according to a new report by Kate Clark, a senior analyst at […]

War and Peace Read more

Death of an Uruzgan journalist: Command Errors and Collateral Damage

Kate Clark •

An investigation into the fatal shooting of an Afghan journalist by a US soldier raises critical questions about the safety of local reporters working in the field, and the need for greater honesty by ISAF when operations go wrong, according to a new report by AAN’s senior analyst, Kate Clark. Omaid Khpulwak was killed at […]

Special Reports Read more

Handing over Night Raids

Kate Clark •

Afghanistan and the United States have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on ‘Special Operations’, ensuring that night raids will continue – with Afghans ordering and conducting them and US forces acting only in support. The agreement is a victory for President Karzai who has long insisted – up till now in vain – that […]

International Engagement Read more

The Trouble with Torture: NDS, Special Forces and the CIA

Kate Clark •

Fresh evidence of abuse in more than a dozen NDS and police facilities has been presented in a report by the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission (AIHRC) and Open Societies Foundations (OSF). The allegations, which include testimony of security detainees being beaten, given electric shocks and having their genitals wrenched, were described by NDS as […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

The ‘Other Bagram’ (1): A Memorandum for handover

Kate Clark •

President Karzai’s legal advisor, Nasrullah Stanekzai, has confirmed to AAN that there will be detention without trial of Afghans by Afghans when the Detention Facility at Parwan (DFIP), also referred to simply as ‘Bagram’, is handed over to Afghan government control, at the latest, on 8 September 2012. A memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed by […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Afghan New Year: Sal-e Naw Mubarak

Kate Clark •

Three swallows were sighted in the skies over Kabul by members of the AAN team this week – a welcome harbinger of spring after this year’s long, cold winter. They disappeared again, as a dust storm racked Kabul on the last day of the Afghan year. Nawruz has now dawned, even with grey and gritty […]

Context and Culture Read more

The End of the Affair? Taleban Suspend Talks

Kate Clark •

The Taleban have announced that they are suspending talks with the Americans, only six weeks after the opening of their political office in Qatar. In a statement, they described the US approach as ‘shaky, erratic and vague’ and accused the Americans of breaching a memorandum of understanding which had been previously arrived at. This decision […]

War and Peace Read more

Freeing the ‘Guantanamo Five’ 2: Kafka in Cuba

Kate Clark •

Five Taleban prisoners in Guantanamo Bay, whose release is a key demand of the Taleban, prior to/as part of peace talks, have said they are willing to be transferred to Qatar. President Karzai had said they had to be handed over to his government, but after a high level visit by Afghan officials, both Taleban […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

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