Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: tribes

tribes

Trouble in Khas Uruzgan: Insults, assaults, a siege and an airlift

Martine van Bijlert •

After three months of near non-stop fighting in Khas Uruzgan, a mixed Pashtun-Hazara district in northeast Uruzgan, the Taleban decimated the district’s Afghan Local Police (ALP) and forced most of the other security forces back into the district centre. The attack was not just part of a wider, concerted effort by the Taleban to put […]

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Elections 2014 (25): Election mobilisation of women in the Pashtun southeast

Pakteen Ibrahimi • Thomas Ruttig •

For the second round of the presidential election on 14 June 2014, some of the major tribes in Paktia have decided their women should also participate more actively, allowing them to cast their votes themselves. Women turnout in Pashtun-inhabited areas is usually below average, which is increasingly being perceived as a disadvantage by candidates relying […]

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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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Elections 2014 (8): Kandahar, a centre-districts divide and the weakening of the tribal factor

Borhan Osman •

Election day has already been praised for the high voter turnout and the relatively peaceful atmosphere it went down in. Pictures from Kandahar, a province perceived as notoriously insecure, surprised many, showing men and women lining up in long queues to vote. A look at the micro-level, however, reveals a more nuanced picture. Borhan Osman, […]

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Kandahar, cradle of Afghan insurgency, torn by tribal rivalry ahead of vote

AAN •

Reuters, 27 March 2014 Growing violence before the elections despite doubling of security forces ahead of the elections, a rift in the Karzai family with one leading member campaigning for Ashraf Ghani and a remarkable quote from a tribal leader: "People in Kandahar are tired of exclusive rule by the president's brothers, while other tribes have […]

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Ghani Hopes Makeover Leads To Afghan Election Victory

AAN •

Radio Free Europe/Radio LIberty, 10 March 2014 In this protrait of presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani, AAN's Kate Clark is quotes as saying: "We've noticed this time that he has embraced his Pashtun and tribal identity," Clark says. "He's hoping that will enable him to reach out to rural Pashtuns because he will present himself as […]

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A Joint ‘Durrani’ Candidate for President? After the Unity Jirga in Kabul

Thomas Ruttig •

Tribal elders from most areas of the country came together in an attempt to reduce the field of Pashtun, and among them the Durrani, candidates. The jirga ended in a duel between the two main contenders, both of them close to the president. The meeting remained open to interpretation, after an initial vote apparently met the […]

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Afghan [Zazi Maidan] District Makes Own Peace

AAN •

IWPR, 20 January 2014 Residents say a local arrangement governed by "nerkh", part of customary law, has kept the peace in the district "to an extent rare in other parts of the country", IWPR reports. Although Zazi Maidan "shares a border with the restive northwest of Pakistan, people here say they are able to work […]

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“You Must Have a Gun to Stay Alive”: Ghor, a province with three governments

Obaid Ali •

For many, Ghor is a blank spot on the map. Not much is reported from this large, mountainous province in the west of Afghanistan, but that does not mean it is a quiet place. Thousands of armed men led by criminals and “freelance” commanders, as well as a growing number of Taleban, roam Ghor’s districts. […]

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‘Zoom In and You’ll See the Faces of Taleban’

Martine van Bijlert •

Michael Yon travelled to Uruzgan to see what he could see. He is by his own description on “a long tour of Afghanistan” to discover what is going on in places where international forces have fought and died. Not a bad idea. These places are indeed “(n)ames that mean almost nothing to most people, but […]

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AAN Myth Busters (II): Taleban = Pashtuns?

Thomas Ruttig •

The Afghan government’s draft strategy for reconciliation with the Taleban and other insurgents to be published soon is heating up the discussion about talks to ‘moderate’ Taleban amongst Western politicians. While this discussion is useful, it is necessary to look at its background a bit more closely. German Defense Minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg, a rising […]

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