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Afghanistan BLOG
Up one levelTaliban attacks getting more effective
Two significant attacks were initiated by the Taliban yesterday. One resulted in the death of ten French soldiers and the wounding of 21. Taliban attacks have become larger and more confident in the last two years. Now they are becoming more effective.
The Taliban "address to the Canadian people" after killing female aid workers
The Taliban send an open letter to the people of Canada following a Taliban ambush which killed three Western civilian aid workers - two of them Canadian women.
Visit to Meymaneh PRT...
I wanted to sketch in my experiences with the Norwegian Provincial Reconstruction Team last month...
Civilian deaths: Afghan parliament want to control ISAF operations and deployment
The Afghan parliament's Upper House has called for legislation to cover ISAF/NATO operations against the Taliban and the length of time of their deployment following increasing concern over the number of civilian casualties caused during the fighting. Emotive reactions from an inexperienced parliament could be damaging to Afghanistan, its government, the international community and itself.
Mujahideen of Herat: Tajik fighters join the Taliban?
A Herat-based group of fighters formerly aligned with the Afghan government (the leader of the group was part of provincial government) now apparently conducting armed oppostion against the Kabul regime. The group is Tajik, but their language is pure Taliban...
International Crisis Group paper on Taliban propaganda
The International Crisis Group produce yet another impressively comprehensive work, this time looking at the Taliban’s propaganda activities, attempting “to learn about the insurgency from the insurgents”.
SIPRI Afghan Blog in Afghanistan...
SIPRI Afghan Blog has been in Faryab province, north-west Afghanistan for the last two weeks, generously hosted by the men and women of the Norwegian/Latvian/Icelandic Provincial Reconstruction Team. Invaluable discussions and lessons identified.
Thoughts on the Kabul suicide attack
The chioce of target makes it almost too obvious to point at Pakistan. Al Qa'ida involvement is a plausible bet. Afghan-Pakistan relations will suffer amidst a flurry of accusations and allegations.
Germany to send more soldiers to Afghanistan?
German defence minister, Franz-Josef Jung, has announced that Germany planned to increase the number of troops it can send to Afghanistan by 1,000. However, suggestions that this is a new "anti-Taliban" mission would be wrong - any additional troops that may arrive do not appear destined for combat with the Taliban.
Taliban suggest an “independent investigation team on the killing of civilians” including Taliban and NATO soldiers working together...
In a fascinating posting from late May that purports to come from the “Leadership council of Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan”, ie the Taliban leadership, appears a request for the international community and the Taliban to work together to investigate civilian war deaths in Afghanistan since 2001. They actually suggest that small teams of Taliban and NATO soldiers are formed to conduct a country-wide assessment.
How are we doing in Afghanistan, part I: the dangers of statistics...
There are widely varying degrees of positive and negative assessment regarding the progress of Afghanistan. Many of the conclusions of progress against the Taliban are based on assessment of the numbers of attacks taking place across the country. At best, stats can serve as very crude and loose indicators. At worst they can be misleading, distorting and something to get distracted by. Beware of premature declarations of victory...
The Taliban speak – the Germans listen...
The Taliban explain to Spiegel Online that “what's important is to kill Germans” - useful insights into Taliban thinking, German attitudes and media approaches.
Recommended websites, part II: The Taliban speak...
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/talkingtothetaliban Very interesting and insightful set of short interviews with over 40 Taliban fighters
Hekmatyar speaks...
...but does anyone listen? Notorious former Mujahideen resistance leader, one-time Prime Minister and now a Taleban-supporting insurgent gives rare interview
Recommended websites, part I: informed comment...
http://icga.blogspot.com/ Well-informed, timely and relevant comment, featuring Afghan guru, Barnett Rubin...
Why the PRTs must be reviewed
The Provincial Reconstruction Team concept, initiated in 2002, although doing much good in Afghanistan, is unfocused, uncoordinated and without a strategic plan. They are attracting criticism from the international community and Afghans alike. Afghanistan in 2008 is significantly different to 2002 and a review of their role, tasks, lessons learnt and their future is overdue.
That assassination attempt...
In terms of media impact, the attempt on Karzai's life on 27th Apr was an undeniable propaganda coup for the Taleban that will trump NATO's April "Vision Statement" of support for Afghanistan. It also serves as a useful reminder for the international community to consider what the "Plan B" would look like in the event of Karzai's death.
NATO's Bucharest summit: implications for Afghanistan
The NATO Summit in Bucharest last month saw many hints of progress, but largely fell short on the most pressing question for the alliance: Afghanistan.