Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Nuristan

Nuristan

Hit from Many Sides (2): The demise of ISKP in Kunar

Obaid Ali • Khalid Gharanai •

One year ago, the Afghan affiliate of the Islamic State – called Islamic State Khorasan Province (ISKP) – lost its last territorial base in Afghanistan in Kunar province. This followed a first severe defeat in their major stronghold in the country, in Nangrahar province in late 2019. No open ISKP presence is left in Kunar […]

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The 2018 Election Observed (5) in Nuristan: Disfranchisement and lack of data

Jelena Bjelica • Obaid Ali • Thomas Ruttig •

Organising elections in Nuristan, one of the most remote, under-served and unknown provinces, presents a severe challenge. Most villages are far from their nearest district centre and all of the districts are under some degree of Taleban control or influence. In two districts – Mandol and Du-Ab – people were fully deprived of their right […]

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The German expedition members also gave medical treatment to the local Nuristani population. Photo from: Herrlich, Land des Lichtes (1938).

The Hunt for the Holy Wheat Grail: A not so ‘botanical’ expedition in 1935

Thomas Ruttig •

AAN has just reported about an area in Central Afghanistan, the Shah Foladi in the Koh-e Baba mountain range, that was recently declared a new conservation area for its botanical diversity. This reminded AAN’s co-director Thomas Ruttig of a first ‘botanical’ expedition – 80 years ago, in 1935 – to another isolated mountainous region of […]

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A little Hundred Years’ War [in Nuristan]

AAN •

The Economist, 22 May 2014 The tale about two tribes in Nuristan who feuded since a hundred years, and finally made peace, after turning to the Afghan government for help.

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Fazlullah has Mulla Omar’s backing

AAN •

The News International (Pakistan), 8 November 2013 Although the "news" in the headline is not detailed and based on anonymous, somewhat dubious sources, the rest of the article is highly interesting because it details the inner strcutures and dealings of the Pakistani Taleban, in he light of the killing – through a drone attack – of […]

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New Battles and Old Wants in Nuristan

Fabrizio Foschini •

The killing of the deputy shadow governor of the Taleban for Nuristan, apparently in a drone strike on his native village of Amshuz, Waygal district, represents just the last chapter in what has already been a rather intense fighting season in the province for two months. A perennial candidate for insurgent takeover, Nuristan witnessed some […]

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Nuristan in Fall

Fabrizio Foschini •

After a tough start, Nuristan province has passed the summer without further serious traumas. Still, all the pre-existing concerns about an insurgent takeover of the whole province are still there, just probably postponed to next year depending on the early onset of winter. In order to prevent this from happening, it is high time to […]

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