Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: US withdrawal

US withdrawal

The Moment in Between: After the Americans, before the new regime

Martine van Bijlert •

Monday night, Centcom Commander General Kenneth McKenzie announced the withdrawal of United States forces from Afghanistan as complete, while the Taleban declared the country once again a “free and sovereign nation.” After the last American soldier left Afghan soil, Taleban forces giddily moved into the last part of Kabul airport that had still been in […]

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A Quarter of Afghanistan’s Districts Fall to the Taleban amid Calls for a ‘Second Resistance’

Kate Clark • Obaid Ali •

In the last few weeks, the Taleban have captured scores of district centres across Afghanistan. In this report, we look at the general reasons for the success of the Taleban onslaught, before focusing on the north, which has seen a collapse of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) of unprecedented speed and scale. The fall […]

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The Biden Presidency: What choices for Afghan policy remain?

Kate Clark •

As of 20 January, the United States should have a new president, as Joe Biden takes over from Donald Trump. Decisions taken in Washington have, for the last 20 years, been fundamental to what happens in Afghanistan, and that is especially the case now. Biden takes power in the wake of President Trump’s decision to […]

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War in Afghanistan in 2020: Just as much violence, but no one wants to talk about it

Kate Clark •

As memories of the relative peace of the Eid ul-Adha ceasefire fade and direct talks between the government and the Taleban should be about to begin, it seems a good time to look again at what has been happening in the conflict since the United States and the Taleban signed their agreement on 29 February. […]

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The Cost of Support to Afghanistan: New special report considers the reasons for inequality, poverty and a failing democracy

Kate Clark •

In a new AAN special report, Kate Clark considers the apparent paradox that despite almost two decades of international support to Afghanistan, poverty for most Afghans has deepened. She also explores the gap between the promise of the 2002 Bonn Agreement and 2004 constitution, a multi-ethnic, fully representative government, a democracy with strong checks and […]

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US-Taleban Agreement Still in the Air: Disputes about a ‘ceasefire’ versus ‘reduction of violence’

Thomas Ruttig •

Over the past few weeks, the Taleban first stoked expectations that an agreement with the United States was imminent, and then expressed frustration that it was not yet signed. They had appeared to be trying to edge forward to an agreement by offering to “scale down military operations” against both US and Afghan troops – […]

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“Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed”: First steps in Afghan peace negotiations

Thomas Ruttig •

With the US-Taleban negotiations in Doha actually addressing how to end the Afghan war, and with first progress being made in the form of an agreed draft framework, Afghanistan seems to be slowly inching beyond the impasse of only ‘talks about talks.’ With this, a peace process has possibly left the starting blocks, but only […]

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Recalling Past Threats, Afghans in Tranquil [Panjshir] Valley Work to Keep It That Way

AAN •

New York Times, 13 January 2014 Panjshiris are preparing themselves against a Taleban comeback, reports the Times. "Western security experts and senior Afghan defense officials say Panjshiri boasts about squirreling away weapons throughout the valley are credible. … Panjshir is also the only province where uniformed agents from the National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s main intelligence […]

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Rare Afghan Haven at Risk as U.S. Departs

AAN •

Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2013 In this article we learn about district control in southern Afghanistan: Hutal, the district centre of Maiwand district (Kandahar province), is a "bubble" of government control, the only one in the district: "There is a health clinic and a functioning district administration. Women and children roam its streets freely, […]

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