Abubakar Siddique, a journalist for RFE/RL's Radio Azadi, specializes in the coverage of Afghanistan and Pakistan. He is the author of The Pashtun Question: The Unresolved Key To The Future Of Pakistan And Afghanistan.
Taliban threats and attacks appear to have succeeded in keeping turnout low in several provinces during Afghanistan's presidential and provincial-council elections on August 20. But as the dust settles and the vote-counting begins, some observers are arguing that people's participation in the election and the security effort that preceded it ultimately signify a Taliban setback.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai's campaign team has said the incumbent has a majority in the first round of the country's presidential election, while his main rival has also claimed victory.
As Afghans vote today in presidential and provincial elections, eyes are turning to restive Helmand Province. Considered home to the Taliban insurgency and drug trade, the fate of elections there could determine the ultimate success or failure of stabilization efforts in the country.
On the eve of Afghanistan's presidential and regional elections, one of the country's most notorious militia commanders has emerged from exile. General Abdul Rashid Dostum's return to Afghanistan, where the ethnic Uzbek boasts a significant following, is seen as a boost to incumbent President Hamid Karzai's reelection chances. But the accusations of widespread human rights abuses that led to Dostum's exile in Turkey remain.
In a live television debate in Kabul, organized under the auspices of RFE/RL, Afghan President Hamid Karzai received staunch challenges from two of his main opponents in next week's presidential election.
While most Afghan presidential contenders campaign from fortified headquarters or travel in armored cars with gun-toting bodyguards, one candidate is getting his message out to remote corners of Afghanistan in a rickety minibus. Meet Ramzan Bashardost -- according to the polls, the third most popular candidate among the 35 contenders.
Peace, reconciliation, and economic development are the key themes of Afghan President Hamid Karzai's reelection manifesto. Unlike his challengers, he has the arduous task of defending his past performance and selling his future vision to an increasingly skeptical Afghan electorate.
On a bright summer day, amid the towering mountains surrounding the Panjshir valley north of Kabul, locals recently voiced their support for Abdullah Abdullah.
If confirmed, Baitullah Mehsud's death would mark the demise of Pakistan's most wanted fugitive and deprive Al-Qaeda of a reputed "key facilitator" long pursued by U.S. counterterrorism forces in the region. Taliban leaders were said to be meeting to name a successor.
When a small band of armed "refugees" seized a village in Kyrgyzstan 10 years ago this week, they didn't appear to pose much of a threat. It has since become clear that the storming of the international stage by IMU gunmen dashed Central Asian hopes of escaping Pakistan- and Afghanistan-style Islamist insurgencies.
A former academic and World Bank executive is introducing a new kind of politics in Afghanistan. In a country ravaged by foreign invasions and internal friction, presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani is running on a broad reform agenda with a manifesto of a prosperous, peaceful future.
Mullah Mohammad Omar, the reclusive leader of Afghanistan's Taliban, has issued an updated book outlining the rules of conduct for his fighters. The guide is seen as an effort to consolidate his grip over the Taliban ranks and to offset the West's new counterinsurgency strategy.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband has delivered a major speech on Afghanistan at NATO headquarters in Brussels, with an emphasis on reconciliation with elements of the insurgency. He also called for finding ways to improve governance at the local level and for the development of a regional stability strategy whereby Afghanistan's neighbors contribute to and benefit from its stability and development.
Afghans tuned in to the first televised debate of the presidential campaign on the evening of July 23, but while they had the opportunity to watch two top contenders face off, President Hamid Karzai was noticeably absent.
Insecurity is peaking and international debate about Afghanistan's future is intensifying as the country's August 20 presidential election approaches. Amid the deadliest month for international forces since they entered Afghanistan in 2001, Western capitals are critically examining their role in an eight-year-old conflict that has no clear end in sight.
As a two-month-old military offensive against the Taliban in the Swat Valley winds down, Pakistani authorities say that residents who fled the fighting can begin going home. Some 2 million displaced must now decide whether to face an uncertain future in Swat or continue living under harsh conditions in camps and settlements.
U.S. regional envoy Richard Holbrooke recently said that Washington will move away from emphasizing the eradication of opium poppy to stem drug production in Afghanistan, and will instead focus on stopping trafficking, enforcing drug laws, and substituting crops. But officials in Kabul are skeptical about this strategy.
The operation targets Taliban strongholds in southern Helmand Province, considered by many to be Afghanistan's most insecure region. With thousands of marines and hundreds of Afghan police and soldiers involved, it's seen as a key effort to turn around the deteriorating situation and improve security for the August election.
The campaign for Afghanistan's August 20 presidential election is gathering momentum in Kabul. Election posters for incumbent President Hamid Karzai and his 40 challengers compete for space and attention on the city’s walls and lamp posts. But some in Kabul are calling for a delay in the election as concern mounts about what is happening -- or not happening -- in the country's south and east.
Opinion polls suggest Hamid Karzai is well ahead of rival candidates in the upcoming Afghan election. But one of his key election maneuvers is raising critical questions about governance, accountability, and the rule of law.
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