Cops go crooked in Kabul as pay and training lag

"I cannot loot people or take bribes like my colleagues. So if I do not get paid soon, I will leave and sell fruits like my father," says Mr. Mohammad, who is having trouble feeding his younger brother and himself.

A senior policeman, Abdul Majeed, is also not getting his salary. He was trained as a policeman during the communist rule of Mohammad Najibullah, but fled to Pakistan after receiving bullet wounds fighting against Taliban.

"A policeman is human and has to feed his family as well - with an empty stomach and starving children, he cannot afford principles," says Mr. Majeed, trudging back to his duty post. "I am not a thief but no angel either. Who in this world would refuse money when desperate?"

Afghan officials say International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) has started its training program for policemen but blame the Western donor countries for not fulfilling their promises to organize the police force.

"When [police] and their families are hungry, they become looters," says the Afghan minister.

After decades of war, the central government is also fighting the culture of the gun. Social analysts talk about deep-rooted blood lust in Afghan society, and feel the urgent need to train a proper police force before issuing them the uniforms and weapons that give many a power rush.

Observers say if the illegal activities of policemen are not checked, the lawlessness may take Kabul and the rest of Afghanistan back into the era where warlords wreaked havoc on the country.

After the withdrawal of Soviet troops from Afghanistan in 1989, the various mujahideen groups fought battles among themselves that kept entire cities hostage. Warlords set up their own checkpoints, controlled the areas at gunpoint, and demanded money from local people.

The lawlessness became one of the main factors in the rise and acceptance of Taliban in the country. The Taliban were seen as a reprieve from the violence and mayhem of warlords.

"Today these policemen are thieves, tomorrow they will become warlords, "says Wali Ullah, a local Afghan journalist. "Peace and security in Kabul is essential as this is a gauge of the overall situation of Afghanistan. If Kabul becomes weak then Karzai's authority will weaken."

After the fall of the Taliban, around two million Afghans from neighboring Pakistan, Iran, and other countries returned to Kabul, the dreamland of Afghans.

But for Mr. Khan and Sufaid, dreams already seem to have soured.

Now people in crime-ridden neighborhood have started guarding their rooftops in the night. The beautiful starry nights of Kabul, celebrated in literature and history, have taken on a different tone for these residents , who live in fear of policemen-cum-thieves.

"As the sun sets in Kabul, we lock our doors, and pray for the sunrise again," says Mr. Khan.

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