Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Security

Security

Afghanistan: Sicherheitslücke

Thomas Ruttig •

Tagesspiegel (Berlin, online), 7 January 2014 Reporting that the German ISAF forces had stopped reporting the number of insurgent attacks in northern Afghanistan, the Berlin-based daily asked AAN’s Thomas Ruttig for his assessment. Saying that the argument the Afghan forces were in the lead now and needed to take over the reporting sounded like a pretext. “ISAF […]

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Innocent, guilty – useful? What’s behind the US-Afghan clash over 88 prisoners from Bagram

AAN Guests • AAN Team •

The Afghan government announced yesterday (7 January) that it would go ahead with the release of 88 Taleban prisoners from Bagram despite US objections. American politicians, including two senior US senators who visited Kabul in early January, have warned of further damage to US-Afghan bilateral relations if the prisoner release goes forward. The issue has […]

War and Peace Read more

Some Things Got Better – How Much Got Good? A review of 12 years of international intervention in Afghanistan

Thomas Ruttig •

2013 marked the year in which the international community started to wrap up many of the initiatives to re-build Afghanistan – arguably the biggest international effort since the post-Word-War-II Marshal Plan. But where did this effort leave the country? For AAN’s year-end piece, co-director Thomas Ruttig has summarised what has happened, what has been achieved – […]

International Engagement Read more

Back to Bad: Chahrdara between Taleban and ALP – a district case study

Lola Cecchinel •

Chahrdara, an embattled district in Kunduz province, is a miniature model for all of Afghanistan’s larger conflicts. Traditionally a hotbed of the insurgency, military interventions could never bring lasting change, so Chahrdara – under heavy foreign siege in 2010 (1) – is back to where it was: a Taleban stronghold in the north. At the same […]

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Opaque and Dilemma-Ridden: A look back at transition

Thomas Ruttig •

At its Lisbon summit in November 2010 NATO made “transition” its official strategy for Afghanistan, setting mid-2013 as the time when responsibility for security throughout all of Afghanistan should have been handed over – or “transitioned” – from NATO to the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in a process of five phases. This time has […]

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The Sane Heartland of Afghanistan: a visit to Ghor’s Lal wa Sarjangal district

Kate Clark •

Ghor is currently the subject of a series of dispatches by AAN’s Obaid Ali in which he describes the province’s multitudinous problems, not just threats from the Taleban, but also a host of other armed militias, their leaders entangled with the government, fighting each other and predating on the people. The one recurring bright spot […]

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Licensed Banditry in Helmand: Armed employees of local security firms accused of robbery and worse

admin •

IWPR, 19 December 2011 In Helmand, people interviewed say they were tired of the men working for commercially-run security firms who were making their lives a misery because they ‘seemed to be above the law’. In return, PSC owners accuse local officials of forcing bribes out of them.

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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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More on the resignation of Atmar and Saleh – and who might replace them

Kate Clark •

The repercussions of the sacking/resignation of two of the president’s three top security officials on Sunday are still sinking in, along with the President’s decree that the status of Taleban prisoners must be reviewed. These major changes on security follow his proclaimed success in demonstrating ‘national unity’ at the peace jirga. Despite the tent being […]

Political Landscape Read more

The resignation of Atmar and Saleh; early thoughts

Martine van Bijlert •

After what is reported to have been a day of rather heated discussions, Interior Minister Hanif Atmar and head of the National Directorate of Security Amrullah Saleh have handed in their resignation. President Karzai swiftly accepted and has already appointed their deputies, Munir Mangal and Engineer Ibrahim, as acting heads. The palace announced that the […]

Political Landscape Read more

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