Pro-Government Militias
Documentation for Anti-Taliban Militia
Jan. 9, 2009 Agence France Press - English
The plan, still in a pilot phase, is officially being developed at the request of the government of President Hamid Karzai as a way to empower villagers to protect themselves amid an upsurge in insurgent violence.
But it is being pushed by the United States, Afghanistan's key ally, with US ambassador to Kabul William Wood saying in late December that there were simply not enough Afghan or international troops to deploy into all villages. (…)
These groups would likely have weapons. But officials have been vague about who would supply them, with some saying it would be the interior ministry and also insisting the groups could not be called "militias" as they would fall under government supervision.
The guards would be chosen by local-level traditional councils, said Barna Karimi, deputy director of the Independent Directorate of Local Governance (IDLG) set up by Karzai more than a year ago.
Nov. 2, 2009 Hindustan Times
For now, they are not arming the groups because they already have guns.
But American and Afghan officials say they are also planning to train the fighters and provide communication equipment.
The Americans also say they will tie them directly to the Afghan government.
These checks aim to avoid repeating mistakes of the past ' either creating more Afghan warlords, who have defied the government's authority for years, or arming Islamic militants, some of whom came back to haunt the United States.
Nov. 21, 2009 UPI
U.S. and Afghan officials said the militia aid was part of the Community Defense Initiative that uses militia troops to provide security for Afghan communities from Taliban forces, The New York Times reported online Saturday.
While the anti-Taliban militias were created independently, U.S. and Afghan officials said they are hopeful they can help create similar local forces in Afghanistan in the future.
"The idea is to get people to take responsibility for their own security," an unidentified senior U.S. military official in Kabul said of the plan. "In many places they are already doing that."
"What we are talking about is a local, spontaneous and indigenous response to the Taliban," Afghan Interior Minister Hanif Atmar said. "The Afghans are saying, 'We are willing and determined and capable to defend our country; just give us the resources.'"
Nov. 22, 2009 The New York Times
The emergence of the militias, which took some leaders in Kabul by surprise, has so encouraged the American and Afghan officials that they are planning to spur the growth of similar armed groups across the Taliban heartland in the southern and eastern parts of the country. (…)
The American plan echoes a similar movement that unfolded in Iraq, beginning in late 2006, in which Sunni tribes turned against Islamist extremists.
That movement, called the Sunni Awakening, brought tens of thousands of former insurgents into government-supervised militias and helped substantially reduce the violence in Iraq. A rebellion on a similar scale seems unlikely in Afghanistan, in large part because the tribes here are so much weaker than those in Iraq.
Nov. 23, 2009 The Guardian
The Community Defence Initiative (CDI) is enthusiastically backed by Stanley McChrystal, the US general commanding Nato forces in Afghanistan, but details about the programme have been held back from non-US alliance members who are likely to strongly protest.
Another controversial aspect of the programme is the involvement of Arif Noorzai, an Afghan politician from Helmand who is widely distrusted by many members of the international community.
Although many western officials want to sideline Noorzai and give oversight to the Afghan army and police, some of the CDI militias will build upon the 12,500 militiamen in 22 provinces Noorzai helped to set up this summer in the run up to the presidential elections on 20 August, an official said.
Despite the lack of any announcement about the programme, which could radically affect conditions in unstable areas across Afghanistan, it has begun in 14 areas in the south, east and west, but is expected to extend far beyond that.
Another diplomat in the south-east of the country said in the last six weeks special forces have held several meetings with elders in restive districts in Paktia, close to the Pakistani border, seeking to embed themselves with the local people. The diplomat said: "It is not clear anything has happened yet, but the elders in the area are all seeing dollar signs and very much want to qualify for this programme."According to some western officials, the US government will make a pot of $1.3bn (£790m) available for the programme, although the US embassy said it could not yet comment on CDI.
A US military spokesman also declined to comment saying the programme was still in its early phases and public discussion could jeopardise the lives of some of the Afghans involved.
Jan. 3, 2010 The New York Times
Opponents of the plan warn that resurrecting the mujahedeen would give power back to the warlords after long efforts to disarm them.
Although the Americans have said they will not provide weapons to the militias, the Afghans gave them guns. They also provide critical backup when needed, including transportation, communications and medical treatment, Afghan security officials said.
The militias, working alongside Afghan and NATO forces, recently helped clear several areas of insurgents. The gains may not be permanent, but they have dealt a setback to the Taliban, the officials said.
Feb. 17, 2011 The Guardian - Final Edition
The local defence programme, similar to others that have been heavily promoted by the US supreme commander, David Petraeus, as essential to beating the Taliban, has also been put on hold amid concern that the informal police force, with 800 men, is already bigger than the official police and could threaten government authority.
The district governor, Abdul Mutalib, called in leaders of the 30 groups of up to 50 gunmen last week to make them sign up to stricter rules of behaviour.
Sept. 12, 2011 Guardian.com
In one of the worst examples of brutality, ALP militiamen detained two teenage boys on suspicion of planting roadside bombs in the district of Shindand, in Herat province.
An elder told Human Rights Watch: "Other elders and I went to the ALP base to collect [one of the boys]. He had been beaten and nails had been hammered into his feet."
The most serious cases of abuse involve the killing and gang rape of child suspects, beatings, land grabs and the forcible collection of ushr, an informal tax.
None of the cases have resulted in any action against the perpetrators, often because of the ALP's links to powerful figures, the report says.
"Patronage links to senior officials in the local security forces and the central government allow supposedly pro-government militias to terrorise local communities and operate with impunity," said Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch.
The report details the expansion of Afghan government-backed militias, which are known as arbakai, in the northern province of Kunduz in order to "prevent a Taliban takeover".
July 28, 2012 The Times (London)
The band of teenagers are part of the Afghan Local Police programme, a US-sponsored village security initiative that has been a disaster in most parts of the country.
Known colloquially as Neighbourhood Watch with Guns, the programme has brought a string of embarrassing failures, including an incident this week in which 20 members defected to the Taleban in southern Uruzgan province.
In many parts of the country, ALP recruits with little or no training have been on violent plundering sprees in the areas they were supposed to be protecting.
Aug. 30, 2012 Khaama Press
April 20, 2013 FARS News Agency
The incident took place in Gandaeer area early on Friday when the insurgents stormed their checkpoint at a time when the public uprising members were asleep, district chief Qasam Desiwal told Pajhwok Afghan News.
The attackers also seized their weapons and a vehicle, he added.
June 1, 2014 The New York Times
The Afghan government has tried to co-opt the strongmen by anointing them as governors and police chiefs. And in recent years, the United States has rebranded hundreds of militias as ''Afghan Local Police,'' placing them under nominal government authority. In most cases, though, the strongmen retain independent sources of revenue, including drug money or American patronage, as well as control over the militias. Their corruption infects the whole government; a Joint Chiefs of Staff report says the state has sometimes become, in effect, a collection of ''criminal patronage networks.''