Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: US military

US military

‘Ghosts of the Past’: New Special Report on Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan

Kate Clark •

Today, AAN and the Global Public Policy Institute (GPPi) co-publish a new special report, ‘Ghosts of the Past: Lessons from Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan and Prospects for the Future’. The result of a three-year research project, the report considers why governments and their foreign partners have kept mobilising local forces in Afghanistan. It considers […]

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New special report: ‘Ghosts of the Past: Lessons from Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan and Prospects for the Future’

Kate Clark •

A major new special report, ‘Ghosts of the Past: Lessons from Local Force Mobilisation in Afghanistan and Prospects for the Future’ looks at what is likely to make a local defence force – such as the Afghan Local Police (ALP) or Afghan National Army Territorial Force (ANA-TF) successful. This research sought to understand what makes some […]

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The Killing of Razeq: Removing the Taleban’s strongest foe in Kandahar, an indirect hit at elections

Thomas Ruttig •

An attack in Kandahar city has left the province’s governor, NDS chief and police commander, the unrivalled strongman of southern Afghanistan, General Abdul Razeq, dead. The commander of United States and NATO forces, General Scott Austin Miller who had just been meeting the three, was unharmed. The attack mimics earlier assassinations of officials and strongmen. […]

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UNAMA Mid-Year Report on Civilian Casualties: Highest number of deaths on record

Kate Clark •

UNAMA has released its mid-year assessment of the harm done to civilians in the Afghan conflict. It found that more civilians were killed in the first six months of 2018 than in any year since 2009 when UNAMA started systematic monitoring. This was despite the Eid ul-Fitr ceasefire, which all parties to the conflict apart […]

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‘Mother of All Bombs’ Dropped on ISKP: Assessing the aftermath

Borhan Osman • Kate Clark • Martine van Bijlert •

American and Afghan forces have arrived at the site of the massive US bomb blast that targeted a complex of tunnels and caves in Achin, Nangarhar, the stronghold of the Islamic State in Khorasan Province (ISKP), on 13 April 2017. Journalists and other independent observers have not yet been allowed to enter the area, so information […]

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Picture shows damaged building

One Step Closer to War Crime Trials? New ICC report on Afghanistan

Ehsan Qaane • Kate Clark •

The International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor has said it will “imminently” be taking a decision on whether to request authorisation from judges to commence an investigation into war crimes in Afghanistan. The Taleban could be investigated, among other offences, for murder and intentionally attacking civilians, while Afghan government forces, and the US military […]

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MSF Investigation: US hospital strike looking more like a war crime

Kate Clark •

A preliminary investigation by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) into the United States airstrike on its hospital in Kunduz on 3 October, which killed at least 30 people, has raised some serious questions. Fresh evidence suggests statements made by US officials in the first few days after the attack were false. It also makes clear how […]

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There are no known pictures of Mohammed Kamin, now cleared for release from Guantanamo. Even the US military’s intelligence Assessment of him has only a blacked out face.

Kafka in Cuba 3: Afghan who wore the wrong type of watch to be released from Guantanamo

Kate Clark •

One of the eight Afghans still detained at Guantanamo Bay, Mohammad Kamin, has been cleared for release after a new review board assessed it was no longer necessary to detain him. Kamin, now in his late 30s and from Khost, has been incarcerated for 12 years, a third of his life. The United States believed […]

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“Reach the Women”: The US military’s experiment of female soldiers working with Afghan women

Gary Owen •

In 2009, the United States military in Afghanistan started deploying female soldiers to the field so that they could interact with Afghan women during operations and patrols. A picture of life as a member of what were called Female Engagement and Cultural Support Teams has come in a recently published book, Ashley’s War, by Gayle […]

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Importance of Taliban prisoner swap

Thomas Ruttig •

ORF FM4 (Austrian radio), 5 June 2014 English-language audio of an interview with AAN’s Thomas Ruttig an the significance of the Afghan prisoner swap and the Taleban video reased of it.

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Nicht alle Afghanen freuen sich über US-Truppenabzug

AAN •

SRF (Swiss radio), 30 May 2014 Summary of an interview (with complete audio file of it), commenting on Obama’s announcement on the (still imcomplete) US troop drawdown till 2016.

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Thousands of private contractors will remain in Afghanistan

AAN •

Digital Journal, 30 May 2014 Self-explanatory article with some intersting catch words: The Overseas Contingency Operations budget, Counter-Terrorism Partnership Fund, US private intelligence and military contractors, Expeditionary Warfare; Irregular Warfare; Special Operations; Stabilization and Reconstruction Operations.

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