Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Martine van Bijlert

The Quran burnings and the different faces of anger

Martine van Bijlert •

Yesterday’s thoughtless and avoidable burning of several Qurans at Bagram air base has sparked a second day of protests across Afghanistan. The repercussions are expected to reverberate for several more days, at least. The demonstrations are a combination of religious outrage, pent-up frustration and groups wanting to stir trouble. It is difficult to predict how […]

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Are the Taleban talking to Karzai (and does it matter)?

Martine van Bijlert •

When little is clear, all clues seem relevant. And so it can happen that a handful of fairly vague sentences by the President are taken as proof of a significant new step towards negotiations in Afghanistan. A closer look at these claims of emerging “three-way talks” shows that this reading is rather premature, as is […]

War and Peace Read more

Ministry of Education reacts to “The Battle for the Schools”

Martine van Bijlert •

Afghanistan’s Ministry of Education has issued an official statement in Dari in response to AAN’s latest report “The Battle for the Schools”, in which it refutes all substance of the report, calls its findings fabricated and assures the great Afghan nation of its tireless efforts and the impeccable Islamic credentials of its curriculum. The full […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Afghanistan’s business elite has its own election

Martine van Bijlert •

Last month Afghanistan’s Chamber of Commerce, the ACCI, elected its new leadership. The process was not without controversy. A lively pre-election trade in ACCI membership cards allowed large numbers of underage children and people who had nothing to do with running a business to participate in the vote at the provincial level. And at the […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more

Trouble in Gizab; the fight everyone chose to ignore

Martine van Bijlert •

On 13 September 2011 a large convoy of armed men, accompanied by US Special Forces, travelled from the centre of Gizab to Tamazan, an area bordering Daikondi province. A murky chain of events led to a confused fight between what should have been friendly forces, in what should have been a stable area. By the […]

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Analysing ISAF Press Releases – AAN Responds to ISAF’s Response

Martine van Bijlert •

ISAF has taken ‘serious issue’ with AAN’s latest report ‘A Knock on the Door. 22 Months of ISAF Press Releases’ (see full text of the press release below). ISAF argues that the methodology is flawed and based on incomplete information, and it worries that this will ‘confuse serious researchers or those engaged in balanced reporting […]

International Engagement Read more

Thinking out loud about peace, talks and tensions

Martine van Bijlert •

In the weeks after Rabbani’s death by deceit and in the days after President Karzai’s oblique announcement of a new peace strategy, Afghans are trying to make sense of a complicated and murky situation. They are thinking out loud and what they say illustrates the complexity and the confusion, the diverging view points and the […]

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The slow winding down of the Parliamentary crisis

Martine van Bijlert • Gran Hewad •

Over the last few days the number of MPs attending the plenary session has been slowly growing, while the Law Support Coalition has struggled to maintain coherence. Individual members are being peeled off, while even those determined to make a stand are questioning whether they should remain outside the session. A compromise seems to be […]

Political Landscape Read more

The government’s new peace strategy: Who to talk to?

Martine van Bijlert •

After the Rabbani assassination, the Afghan government has made it clear that it intends to revise its peace strategy. It has however been very short on the details of what this might look like, other than that it needs to revolve around ‘talking to Pakistan’. The change comes in the midst of deteriorating relations with […]

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A new result for the parliamentary election?

Martine van Bijlert •

The Independent Election Commission (IEC) has finally announced its decision: the removal and replacement of nine parliamentarians (eight men and one woman).* This is far fewer than the 62 ordered by the Special Court (and confirmed by the Supreme Court in no uncertain language last week), but obviously more than the ‘no changes at all’ […]

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Responses to the President’s Ruling; Will the Opposition Hold?

Martine van Bijlert •

The parliamentary stand-off is apparently nearing its end. Manawi, the head of the Independent Electoral Commission, is expected to announce a decision towards the end of the week – a responsibility that has been passed on from the Special Electoral Tribunal to the Kabul Appeals Court, back to the President, and now finally to the […]

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How to Read the Presidential Ruling

Martine van Bijlert •

On Wednesday morning, 10 August 2011, the Palace issued presidential ruling no. 3607 “Regarding the settlement of the 1389 electoral dispute”. It is a remarkably complicated and opaque legal text, which has led to a wide variety of conflicting interpretations. The confusing language and the silence on the side of the palace on what it […]

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