Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Taliban

Taliban

First wave of IS attacks? Claim and denial over the Jalalabad bombs

Borhan Osman • Kate Clark •

The suicide attack on the Kabul Bank in Jalalabad on 18 April 2015, which killed more than 30 people and injured at least 100 others, was condemned by the Taleban and claimed by the Islamic State (IS), or at least by a Facebook site purporting to represent IS, also known as Daesh. President Ashraf Ghani also […]

War and Peace Read more

The Human Cost of the Afghan War: UN reports sharp rise in the killed and injured

Kate Clark •

Evidence – if more was needed – of the intensification of the Afghan war has come in the United Nations’ annual report on civilian casualties. 25 per cent more civilians were killed in the conflict in 2014 than in 2013, almost all Afghans by Afghans. Most civilians are now being killed in ground engagements, an […]

War and Peace Read more

The Shadows of ‘Islamic State’ in Afghanistan: What threat does it hold?

Borhan Osman •

The Islamic State (IS) group, also known by an Arabic acronym, Daesh, has gained a toehold in Afghanistan, although with the loss in a drone strike of its most prominent and recently appointed commander, Rauf Khadem, that toehold is looking precarious. Still, the situation has moved on from when AAN last reported on IS in […]

War and Peace Read more

Going in Circles: The never-ending story of Afghanistan’s unfinished Ring Road

Qayoom Suroush •

Since the presidential campaign and during trips abroad President Ashraf Ghani has been promising to turn Afghanistan into an “Asian roundabout” for regional trade and transit. However, for this, Afghanistan would need to improve its transport systems and build new and better roads. That is probably why, in his first cabinet meeting, on 2 October […]

Economy, Development, Environment Read more
Balloons for the cabinet inauguration are still available. Photo: Martine van Bijlert.

After the Rollercoaster Comes What? Afghanistan in 2015

Martine van Bijlert •

2014 was a rollercoaster of a year. The transition was completed. It did not tear the country apart or fragment the security forces, but it sometimes felt close. Afghanistan now stands at the beginning of the optimistically named Decade of Transformation. The country has a new leadership, both fuelled by confidence and ambition and bogged […]

International Engagement Read more

The Empty Streets of Mohammad Agha: Logar’s struggle against the Taleban

Obaid Ali •

Logar province has become a dangerous place to live for many residents. The number of violent incidents and assassinations of locals committed by Taleban has increased starkly. AAN’s Obaid Ali describes how the Taleban intimidate and exploit the people of this province just south of Kabul and how they challenge local security forces, especially the […]

War and Peace Read more

The ‘Other Guantanamo’ (11): More transfers, a court’s scrutiny and possible redress

Kate Clark •

The United States military spokesman has confirmed to AAN that another detainee has left the detention facility on Bagram Airbase, a ‘German-Moroccan’, Muhammad Abdullawi. A Russian detainee, named by the US military as Irek Hamidullan, has also been flown out – to the US to appear in a federal court on terrorism charges; the first […]

War and Peace Read more

Cult, Culture and the Need for Public Education: Why the National Museum in Kabul has little meaning for Afghans

Jolyon Leslie •

The National Museum has been a powerful symbol in the portrayal of Afghanistan’s recovery since 2002 and focus of intense international attention. However, the ‘narrative of loss’ that runs through portrayals of the museum’s recent history tends to displace serious discussion as to its role as an institution in today’s Afghanistan. After more than a […]

Context and Culture Read more
Pro-IS/Daesh slogan on a wall at Kabul University. Photo from social media.

Messages in Chalk: ‘Islamic State’ haunting Afghanistan?

Borhan Osman •

Rumours of the presence of Islamic State (IS) elements in Afghanistan have repeatedly made it into the media over recent months, sparking public debate and adding to the anxiety about what course the insurgency might take. AAN researcher Borhan Osman says that IS has support among limited numbers of Afghan radical youth – although even […]

War and Peace Read more

Karzai struggles against foreign detentions – state releases Taleban?

Kate Clark •

In the last weeks of his presidency, President Hamed Karzai has again been trying to eradicate the last traces of foreign involvement in detentions, sending a commission to investigate the so-called Tor Jail, an American interrogation facility on Bagram airbase, and reactivating the Afghan Review Board, which had been sifting detainees transferred by the US […]

Rights and Freedoms Read more

Taleban Closing in on the City: The next round of the tug-of-war over Kunduz

Lola Cecchinel •

Within the past two months, the Taleban have managed to secure additional territory around the provincial capital of Kunduz and have been closing in on the city itself. They also gained nearly full control over several districts of the province. On 12 August and then again around 22 August, the ANSF conducted operations. Authorities claimed […]

War and Peace Read more

Snatching defeat from the jaws of victory: How ISAF infighting helped doom Sangin to its ongoing violence

Julius Cavendish •

Sangin district in Helmand has again, this year, seen heavy fighting, this time between the Afghan National Security Forces and the Taleban. With dozens killed and thousands displaced following an insurgent assault involving hundreds of fighters, the Taleban leadership is once again showing how much it values this strategic crossroads and poppy-producing hub. Guest author […]

War and Peace Read more

Subscribe to receive updates from the Afghanistan Analysts Network

Sign up