The new “Förstå Afghanistan“ (Understanding Afghanistan) reader by the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SAK) is out. It covers everything from Afghanistan’s history, its people, state and culture to Afghan-Swedish relations (in Swedish). It has an extensive reading list and scores of good photos. The book’s three dozen contributors include renowned Afghan, Swedish and other authors, […]
In the light of Kabul Process meeting that brought together 23 countries, the UN, the NATO and the EU to the Afghan capital to discuss peace in Afghanistan on 28 February 2018, AAN prepared a new thematic dossier, which brings together in one place all of its relevant reporting on peace efforts in Afghanistan from […]
Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung, 18 December 2017 The latest version of the bi-annually updated portrait of the Afghan conflict by AAN’s Thomas Ruttig on this encyclopaedial website which is designed to inform teacher and pupils, particularly (in German). Go to the text here.
Renowned Oslo-based Peace Research Institute Oslo (PRIO, go to website here) has published an updated version of Thomas Ruttig’s “Conflict Portrait: Afghanistan” that, in turn, had come out (then in German) at the German Bundeszentrale für politische Bildung (Federal Centre for Political Education), a main web-based collection of information for teachers, students and the general public, […]
The terrorist attack on the Iraqi Embassy in Kabul on 31 July 2017 – by a suicide car bomber and three gunmen – has once more directed attention to the activity of local groups that have declared their allegiance to the so-called Islamic State (IS, also known ISIS, ISIL or Daesh) and its local, Afghan-Pakistani […]
Afghanistan’s history has long been dominated and shaped by the interaction of militias with the state. In the post-2001 era, international actors, sometimes with Afghan state cooperation, have tried to use militias to fill perceived gaps in security. Since 2002, a range of foreign-backed local, hybrid or non-state security forces (LHSFs) have emerged. They include […]
Since AAN published its last collection of reports and dispatches about the insurgency in the Afghan northeast, ‘The evolution of insecurity in Kunduz’, in May 2015, there have been tumultuous events, security-wise, in that region. In terms of governance, however, matters are still as dire as they were. Indeed, it can be seen how insecurity […]
Oxford Analytica Daily Brief, 17 November 2015 Thomas Ruttig, “Afghan Taliban Contain Islamic States’ Regional Reach” Reported clashes between Islamic State group’s (ISG) fighters and Afghan security forces, and the appearance of ISG-style black flags, have raised concerns about the ISG threat in Afghanistan. However, many of the alleged sightings of ISG fighters are vague […]
The flurry of recent ‘peace-related’ events – talks about talks, actual talks, denials of talks, re-definitions of peace, attacks and key figures dying – has compelled AAN to take another look at the whole body of our work on the subject. This “Peace Talks and Reconciliation Thematic Dossier” brings you all related AAN analyses in one […]
In the last week, the Taleban launched their second large-scale assault on Kunduz in six months and came close to taking the provincial capital, Kunduz City, before being pushed back by Afghan National Security Forces. For the Taleban, Kunduz is probably the key province in the north, the last to be left in 2001 and […]