Uphill battle to bolster Afghan police
US soldiers mentoring the fledgling units say they see more hope than in Iraq. The police are striving to win locals' trust, but Taliban influence is strong.
from the September 20, 2007 edition
Page 2 of 3
"One of the things we are trying to do is allow the Afghans to lead as much as possible from the front, with us mentoring," says Maj. Steve Boesen, who works alongside Afghan troops. "So at some point we can pull out, and they can sustain themselves."
Lack of trust among local Afghans
Police commanders are counting on recruiting drives and hearts-and-minds missions likeOperation Khyber, which targeted three districts of Paktia Province, to bolster their ranks and reputations. The eight police in Swak district are meant to number 50; local elders have volunteered 13 auxiliaries for training and duties.
"The [local] people were under the control of the enemy," says Col. Abdul Wahab, the gray-bearded commander of the Paktia police Quick Reaction Force. "When they see the training, and the auxiliary police coming back with jobs, we hope it will cause others to come."
But the work is risky. Last year three of the colonel's policemen were killed. And already this year he has lost six men – four of them to a sophisticated ambush. Nationally, the interior ministry in Kabul stated earlier this month that more than 500 police lost their lives in the previous five months.
One aim of Khyber was to increase confidence so local Afghans "will trust us … and they will see that the government of Afghanistan is trying to support the people," says Colonel Wahab of the operation that ended last week.
But nearly six years after the fall of the Taliban, senior commanders of both the police and army are still debating their roles. A directive from the Ministry of Interior last year gave latitude for both forces to "wage war" against militants, but the dispute spilled over into a recent regional security meeting in Gardez.
Operation Khyber was a "success," Maj. Gen. Abdul Khaliq, the 203rd Corps commander of the Afghan National Army (ANA), told US and Afghan officers who were present. "But unfortunately, the ANP is not able to take over and keep those achievements." Police officers are reluctant to accept jobs in Paktia, he said, "because they know they will be killed."
In six months, 52 of his soldiers died in attacks, with more than 100 wounded and many vehicles lost, General Khaliq said. "And still there is no sign of the ANP. I don't want the police to go alone, [but] in a place where there should be 40 ANP, you can't find more than five."
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