ConflictVoice

Representatives from Hezb-i-Islami, the smallest of…

In this photo taken December. 22, 2008, a man inhales heroin in the abandoned Russian Cultural Center in Kabul, Afghanistan. The former cultural center is inhabited by drug…

The United Nations has called for the repeal of an amnesty law in Afghanistan that shields alleged war criminals from prosecution.

The Reconciliation and General Amnesty Law was passed by parliament in 2007 and quietly published in an official gazette in December 2008.

The law was heavily criticised by Afghan and international human rights groups after it surfaced in the news earlier this year.

Norah Niland, who represents the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights in Afghanistan, told journalists in Kabul that the UN was asking for the law to be repealed because it relieves Afghan authorities of their obligation to investigate and prosecute those allegedly responsible for gross violations of human rights.

After reading Thomas Ruttig’s wonderfully detailed post for the Afghanistan Analysts Network, “Gulbuddin ante portas,” I’m convinced now that what Afghanistan really needs is a grand…

KABUL, 22 March 2010 (IRIN) - Afghanistan has been showered with foreign aid since the fall of the Taliban in 2001, but it has been an uphill battle for the government and its donor allies to prove it was all money well spent. 

Critics contend there has been a lack of transparency and coordination and that much of the funding has been squandered through corruption, mismanagement and poor targeting: achievements the government likes to point to in health, education, governance, and communications, could have been achieved at a fraction of the cost, they say. 

Now, with the release of the first Donor Financial Review (DFR) by the Ministry of Finance, some basic facts and figures are finally available. 

How do we know if the U.S. and NATO are “winning” the war in Afghanistan? Of course, this question assumes that the war as it is being conducted is actually winnable on its terms, an…

PANJSHIR PROVINCE, Afghanistan—Col. Rajab Khan, who fought the Russians, al-Qaida and the Taliban, says America’s presence…

NAD’E ALI, Afghanistan - When the Royal Engineers of the 11th Light Infantry Brigade first arrived in the Nad’e Ali district…

The western media has always framed the presence of US and other international forces in Afghanistan negatively. We constantly read and hear from the media the word “invasion” to articulate the…

KABUL, 17 March 2010 (IRIN) - Armed hostilities have boosted the number of internally displaced persons to over 296,000 but an effective humanitarian response is being hampered by insecurity, the UN Secretary-General says in a new report to the UN Security Council. 

“Many internally displaced persons remain unaccounted for as a result of the scattered nature of their displacement and lack of humanitarian access,” said the report entitled The Situation in Afghanistan and its Implications for International Peace and Security, dated 10 March and released on 16 March. 

Peter Graff of Reuters reports that the Afghan government is now confirming that a 2007 law passed by two-thirds of the Afghan parliament, but not needing signature from President Hamid…