How the Taliban are taking control of Kunduz, the Bundeswehr's Afghan nightmare

(19-08-2009) Six years ago, German soldiers came to Afghanistan's Kunduz province to carry out reconstruction work. Now they are engaged in a bitter struggle with the resurgent Taliban, who are trying to sabotage Thursday's presidential election. Many local people no longer believe the Europeans can help them.

Today the region has turned into a battleground, and the Germans, who never wanted to get involved in combat, are in the thick of it. The Taliban have returned, and they are gaining more and more support among the local population.

Der Spiegel: How the Taliban Are Taking Control of Kunduz, The Bundeswehr's Afghan Nightmare (19-08-2009)

Zie ook:
The Washington Post: As Taliban makes comeback in Kunduz province, war spreads to northern Afghanistan (19-3-2010)

Taliban comeback in Kunduz province, war spreads to northern Afghanistan

(The Washington Post, 19-3-2010) For most of the past eight years, Kunduz has been relatively peaceful, far removed from the insurgency in the Taliban heartlands of Kandahar and Helmand.

But the past year has brought such a dramatic Taliban comeback in Kunduz that Gen. McChrystal is planning to shift some of the ongoing troop reinforcements to the north of the country, the first significant American deployment to the region since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001.

The Washington Post: As Taliban makes comeback in Kunduz province, war spreads to northern Afghanistan (19-3-2010)

Het plan voor de aanvullende 30.000 troepen die Obama naar Afghanistan wilde sturen was gericht op het zuiden en oosten van het land, waar de Taliban het sterkst zijn.

Maar Amerikaanse functionarissen zeggen volgens de krant dat 3.000 van deze troepen verlegd worden naar operaties in het noorden om het contingent Duitse militairen te versterken, dat uit ongeveer 1.100 soldaten bestaat en meer gericht is op wederopbouw dan op het bestrijden van opstandelingen.

Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU)

The Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU) is an independent research institute based in Kabul. AREU's mission is to inform and influence policy and practice through conducting high-quality, policy-relevant research and actively disseminating the results, and to promote a culture of research and learning.

To achieve its mission AREU engages with policymakers, civil society, researchers and students to promote their use of AREU's research and its library, to strengthen their research capacity, and to create opportunities for analysis, reflection and debate.

As an impartial Afghanistan-based voice dedicated to research excellence, AREU aspires to contribute to the development of inclusive and transparent policymaking processes, driven by the priorities of the Afghan people, which give rise to better informed policies and programmes that improve Afghan lives.

http://www.areu.org.af/Default.aspx

Missbrauch in Afghanistan: Die Tanzknaben vom Hindukusch

In Afghanistan halten sich einflussreiche Männer Jungs im Alter zwischen elf und sechzehn Jahren zum erotischen Zeitvertreib. Die UN wollen dagegen vorgehen. Doch das „Knabenspiel“ hat Tradition.

Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung: Missbrauch in Afghanistan: Die Tanzknaben vom Hindukusch (22-05-2011)

Reintegration In Afghanistan Hinges On Fate Of Turncoat Taliban

Mullah Noorul Aziz: "We have to live peacefully here because we are the sons of the soil. He [Karzai] promised to share with us whatever is available to him and his people. [He promised] that we will have cars, houses, and jobs like people now siding with the government. [He said] their open embrace is waiting for us."

In many ways, the fate of the government's reintegration effort lies in the fate of Aziz who just earlier this year had been appointed the Taliban's shadow governor of the northern Kunduz Province.

Bij Radio Free Europe:
http://www.rferl.org/content/afghanistan_reintegration_hinges_on_fate_of_turncoat_taliban/24177671.html

Training trainers: coalition mentors produce Afghan instructors, trainers, Camp Mike Spann

The Regional Military Training Center – North, under the Afghan National Army Training Command, is hosting the first Train the Instructor class, charged with training ANA military instructors as the nation moves toward an independent military and peacekeeping force.

The inaugural class graduates May 17, 2011.

As with any training program, new instructors will eventually be needed to replace the current ones as they move forward with their careers.

The Train the Instructor class will identify the top graduates and train them further. Those students will attend the Master Skills Instructor Course and learn to teach the classes they just attended. All this will occur under the direct oversight of the Remote Basic Warrior Training mentor team.

NATO Training Mission Afghanistan:
http://ntm-a.com/wordpress2/?p=4234

FOB Camp Mike Spann, located north of Mazar-e Sharif, is an outpost in the vicinity of Masar-e-Sharif.

Afghan National Army, Regional Military Training Center (RMTC) at Camp Shaheen, Mazar-e-Sharif, Afghanistan. The site is located in Balkh Province, Dihadi District.

Don't abandon Afghanistan after 2014 handover, plead generals

British commander voices fears that Taliban will exploit power vacuum in Afghanistan after west quits (Nick Hopkins in Kabul, the Guardian, Tuesday 10 May)

The west must state clearly that it will not abandon Afghanistan after the handover of security to local forces in 2014 or risk further fighting in the region from an emboldened Taliban, General James Bucknall, the commander of British forces in the country has warned.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/may/10/afghanistan-taliban-handover-2014