Afghanistan Conflict Monitor

Afghanistan Recruits Iraq-Style Militia Force

Afghanistan Recruits Iraq-Style Militia Force, AFP, 18 August 2010

EXCERPT: "The Afghan government said Wednesday it had begun recruiting thousands of militiamen to strengthen security forces against a resurgent Taliban in remote villages of the war-torn country. President Hamid Karzai last month approved the establishment of what his administration calls a 'Local Police Force,' recruited from Afghan villagers in a bid to guard against Taliban attacks in their communities. Deputy Interior Minister Mohammad Munir Mangal told reporters the US-backed initiative was under way in south-central provinces Wardak and Uruzgan, both of which have been hit hard by Taliban violence. 'It will expand in the rest of the country very soon,' he said. 'From what we see on the ground and seeing the eagerness of the people I can tell it'll take two months or even less,' he said, referring to the recruiting process. Recruitment would begin in the southern, eastern and southwestern regions of the country where insurgent violence is most intense, Mangal said. Once fully in theatre, the force would number about 10,000 men who would undergo three weeks of training in their villages by Afghan trainers, he said."

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Related article:
Afghan villagers force to fight Taliban, Press TV, 18 August 2010

Related posts:
Afghans to form local forces to fight Taliban, 15 July 2010
US ambassador halts plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban, 21 January 2010
Can Afghanistan's new "guardian" militia restore security?, 10 July 2009
Locals wary of US-Afghan patrol program, 3 June 2009
Mobilizing Afghan militias: Civil defense forces vs. "tribal militias", 16 February 2009

Reporter Met with "Shadow Prince" Warlord in Kandahar

Reporter Met with "Shadow Prince" Warlord in Kandahar, Bild.de, 10 August 2010

EXCERPT: "Haji Ghani (44) is one of the most powerful men in the disputed southern province of Kandahar. He has fought against the Russians and hates the Taliban. His thick pirate beard is jet black, his hair has red streaks from henna dye. Pointing to one of his chained fighting dogs, which looked more like a small bear, he proudly declared: 'That dog cost €6,000.' He received BILD.de over a dish of chilled watermelon in the gardens of his home. 'Germans are our friends', Haji Ghani said. 'Before the Taliban came, a German lady lived with us. She was helping us build a bridge.' Haji Ghani has not been elected. He rules his district with money, charm, threats, a small militia and the Kalashnikov. The US army has been criticised for working closely with men like Ghani. But in the Taliban stronghold of Kandahar, people like him are the West’s only hope of establishing something resembling stability. 'We have a common enemy – the Taliban,' Ghani said. 'So we have to fight together.'"

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Related articles:
In Afghanistan, murderers get away with murder, The Earth Times, 10 August 2010
Our mate, the bloody warlord, Brisbane Times, 8 August 2010
American forces enter uneasy alliances with tribal strongmen in Afghanistan, Boston Globe, 1 August 2010

Related posts:
With US aid, warlord builds Afghan empire, 7 June 2010
US stands by deals with tribal elders, 18 May 2010
NATO turns to "private armies" for help against Taliban, 17 May 2010
Militias battle Taliban with aid of US, 23 November 2009
US courts former warlords for stability, 20 March 2009

Militias a US Plot to Split Afghanistan: Taliban

Militias a US Plot to Split Afghanistan: Taliban, Reuters, 26 July 2010

EXCERPT: "The creation of local militias, such as a newly announced police unit, is an attempt by the United States to split up Afghanistan ahead of the withdrawal of its troops, the Taliban said on Monday. Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved a controversial U.S. plan for a new local defense force to help tackle a Taliban insurgency which is spreading despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops. Accountable to the Interior Ministry, the Local Police Force (LPF) will help the Afghan National Police protect rural areas from attacks by insurgents. Similar schemes have been started before but fizzled out. The formation of the LPF is a sensitive issue for Afghans, who remember the notorious militias mobilized by the Soviets during their decade-long occupation in the 1980s, and the role they played in the bloody civil war that followed."

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Related articles:
War is boring: Fourth time the charm for NATO's Afghan militia plan?, World Politics Review, 21 July 2010
Petraeus's first act is to establish militias to fight the Taliban, The Independent, 16 July 2010
The US goes local to fight the Taliban in Afghanistan, TIME, 16 July 2010
Petraeus’ first big Afghanistan gamble: Local cops, 14 July 2010
US encouraged by Afghans banding together to protect villages, Stars and Stripes, 9 July 2010

Related resources:
Statement of Afghan Taliban regarding the US setup of new "local militia", The Nation, 25 July 2010
Can Local Militias Save Afghanistan?, The Atlantic Wire, 15 July 2010

Related posts:
Afghans to form local forces to fight Taliban, 15 July 2010
NATO turns to "private armies" for help against Taliban, 17 May 2010
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010
Tribal rivalries bedevil a US plan, 15 March 2010
US courts former warlords for stability, 20 March 2009

Afghans to Form Local Forces to Fight Taliban

Afghans to Form Local Forces to Fight Taliban, The New York Times, 14 July 2010

EXCERPT: "After intensive discussions with NATO military commanders, the Afghan government on Wednesday approved a program to establish local defense forces around the country, with the potential to help remote areas thwart attacks by Taliban insurgents. The NATO-backed program, which will be supervised by the Interior Ministry, will pay salaries to the members of these new forces, an inducement that could generate widespread recruitment, although Afghan aides have said they prefer to keep the program small. Nonetheless, the Afghan government’s agreement to establish the program represents a concession by President Hamid Karzai, who had resisted it. The program is similar in some respects to the Sunni Awakening movement in Iraq — although it is not expected to include insurgents who have switched sides. The Afghan program was the product of 12 days of meetings between President Karzai and the newly appointed NATO commander here, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the Iraq veteran who helped to establish the Sunni Awakening forces and who negotiated a different approach to expanding local protection forces in Afghanistan that was acceptable to Mr. Karzai."

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Related articles:
Petraeus considers expanding Afghan village forces - Interview with David Kilcullen, NPR, 14 July 2010
Local Afghan security forces "temporary solution": Pentagon, AFP, 14 July 2010
Gen. Petraeus runs into resistance from Karzai over village defense forces, The Washington Post, 10 July 2010
Anti-Taliban tribal militias come with baggage, Los Angeles Times, 19 June 2010

Related resources:
Video: US Battles to Train Local Forces in Afghanistan, PBS NewsHour, 6 July 2010
Brian Till: Let's Stop Lying to the Afghans, The Atlantic, 24 June 2010

Related posts:
US and Afghanistan debate more village forces, 13 July 2010
US stands by deals with tribal elders, 18 May 2010
NATO turns to "private armies" for help against Taliban, 17 May 2010
US ambassador halts plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban, 21 January 2010
Militias battle Taliban with aid of US, 23 November 2009

US and Afghanistan Debate More Village Forces

US and Afghanistan Debate More Village Forces, The New York Times, 12 July 2010

EXCERPT: "With American commanders pushing to expand the number of armed village forces in areas where their troops and the local police are scarce, the Afghan president is signaling that he has serious concerns that such a program could return the country to warlordism, challenging the power of the central government. The village forces have been one of the top subjects under discussion in frenetic daily meetings for the past week between Gen. David H. Petraeus, the American military commander in Afghanistan, and Hamid Karzai, the Afghan president. The two are scheduled to meet again on Tuesday, according to senior NATO military officials here. They will discuss a modified version of the plan that tries to assuage Mr. Karzai’s doubts by agreeing to his request that the Afghan government be involved at every stage of the program. Officials close to both the Afghans and the Americans sound cautiously optimistic that they will reach an agreement in the next few days."

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Related articles:
Karzai, Petraeus in talks on Afghan militias: Spokesman, AFP, 13 July 2010
The Badlands of Kandahar: The counterinsurgency's testing ground, TIME, 13 July 2010
AfPak Behind the Lines: Southern Afghanistan, Foreign Policy, 12 July 2010

Related posts:
With US aid, warlord builds Afghan empire, 7 June 2010
Afghan government reservedly backs tribal cash plan, 5 February 2010
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010
US ambassador halts plan to utilize Afghan militias against Taliban, 21 January 2010
US courts former warlords for stability, 20 March 2009

US Indirectly Paying Afghan Warlords As Part of Security Contract

US Indirectly Paying Afghan Warlords As Part of Security Contract, The Washington Post, 22 June 2010

EXCERPT: "The U.S. military is funding a massive protection racket in Afghanistan, indirectly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout the country, according to congressional investigators. The U.S. military is funding a massive protection racket in Afghanistan, indirectly paying tens of millions of dollars to warlords, corrupt public officials and the Taliban to ensure safe passage of its supply convoys throughout the country, according to congressional investigators. Military logisticians on the ground are focused on getting supplies where they are needed and have 'virtually no understanding of how security is actually provided' for the local truck convoys that transport more than 70 percent of all goods and materials used by U.S. troops. Alarms raised by prime trucking contractors were met by the military 'with indifference and inaction,' the report said. "

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Related articles:
Investigators probing US money flow to insurgents, The Associated Press, 21 June 2010

Related resource:
Warlord, Inc: Extortion and corruption along the US supply chain in Afghanistan [pdf], Subcommittee on National Security and Foreign Affairs, Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, United States House of Representatives (c/o The Washington Post), 22 June 2010

Related posts:
With US aid, warlord builds Afghan empire, 7 June 2010
The winning warlords, 2 July 2009
US courts former warlords for stability, 20 March 2009
The warlords of Afghanistan, 13 February 2009

US Stands by Deals with Tribal Elders

Afghan Strategy: US Stands by Deals with Tribal Elders, TIME, 18 May 2010

EXCERPT: "It was hailed as a game-changing breakthrough in the U.S. military's effort to rally Afghan tribes against the Taliban-led insurgency. In late January, elders of the Shinwari, an influential Pashtun tribe in eastern Nangarhar province, pledged to confront militants operating in their territory and punish anyone who cooperated with them. Within weeks, however, they turned their guns on each other: a land dispute between two subclans erupted into a firefight that has left 13 people dead and another 35 injured. It has cast doubt over a U.S. strategy that would have funneled $1 million in development aid to the tribal leaders involved. Since then, anti-Taliban patrols by tribesmen have reportedly ground to a halt over fears they could worsen interclan tensions. Meanwhile, Taliban and other militants continue to move freely in some tribal areas. Only $200,000 of the promised U.S. funds have been dispensed, with no word on what's next. American military planners were in part motivated by a program used in Iraq to woo tribal leaders from the Sunni Muslim minority with cash and support. Al-Qaeda-driven violence plummeted there after they joined forces in what came to be known as the Sunni awakening. As coalition forces extended their offensive across Afghanistan's southern provinces, it was hoped the partnership with the Shinwari could serve as a template for other volatile areas."

Read the full story.

Related articles:
In Afghanistan's north, ex-warlord offers security, The New York Times, 17 May 2010
The gangs of Kandahar - the city's real power?, Channel 4 News, 16 May 2010
US military runs into Afghan tribal politics after deal with Pashtuns, The Washington Post, 10 May 2010

Related resource:
Checking in with the Shinwari: The Taliban still roam in Achin, The Majlis, 27 April 2010

Related posts:
Tribal rivalries bedevil a US plan, 15 March 2010
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010
Militias battle Taliban with aid of US, 23 November 2009
Tribal engagement in Afghanistan, 26 February 2009

NATO Turns to "Private Armies" for Help Against Taliban

NATO Turns to Militias in Afghanistan Battle, Channel 4 News, 17 May 2010 

EXCERPT: "Elite American and Nato military units in Afghanistan have discreetly turned for help from the 'private armies' of warlords and tribal leaders as a controversial tactic in the war against the Taliban, it can be revealed. Working alongside both US intelligence and special force agencies, irregular Afghan militia groups are increasingly being blamed for theft, corruption, targeted assassinations. They have also been accused of involvement in raids aimed at killing the Taliban but in which innocent men, women and children have been killed. Nowhere are fears more pronounced about the role of militias than in the southern city of Kandahar, at the centre of a Nato operations this summer to reverse the tide of the Afghanistan war. Here, many say private armed groups are feared more than the Taliban. Assassinations often publicly blamed on the insurgents are frequently carried out, it is said, by what some already refer to as 'death squads'."

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Related articles:
Hundreds more trainers in Afghanistan may be needed, Reuters India, 17 May 2010
Combat generation: Trying to work with an Afghan insurgent, The Washington Post, 17 May 2010
Afghan peace cleric Rahman Gul shot dead in Kunar, BBC News, 17 May 2010
War of persuasion: The modern U.S. officer emerges in Afghanistan, The Washington Post, 16 May 2010

Related posts:
Tribal rivalries bedevil a US plan, 15 March 2010
Afghan tribe makes first step in anti-Taliban pact, 11 February 2010
Afghan government reservedly backs tribal cash plan, 5 February 2010
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010
Militias battle Taliban with aid of US, 23 November 2009

Tribal Rivalries Bedevil A US Plan

Afghan Tribal Rivalries Bedevil a U.S. Plan, The New York Times, 11 March 2010 

EXCERPT: "Six weeks ago, elders of the Shinwari tribe, which dominates a large area in southeastern Afghanistan, pledged that they would set aside internal differences to focus on fighting the Taliban. This week, that commitment seemed less important as two Shinwari subtribes took up arms to fight each other over an ancient land dispute, leaving at least 13 people dead, according to local officials. The fighting was a setback for American military officials, some of whom had hoped it would be possible to replicate the pledge elsewhere. It raised questions about how effectively the American military could use tribes as part of its counterinsurgency strategy, given the patchwork of rivalries that make up Afghanistan. Government officials and elders from other tribes were trying to get the two sides to reconcile, but given the intensity of the fighting, some said they doubted that the effort would work. At the very least, the dispute is proving a distraction from the tribe’s commitment to fight the Taliban, not each other."

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Related articles:
A civil war among Afghanistan's insurgents?, TIME, 8 March 2010 

Related posts:
Afghan government reservedly backs tribal cash plan, 5 February 2010 
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010 
Militias battle Taliban with aid of US, 23 November 2009 
US creates local militia to fight Taliban, 14 April 2009 
Local force to guard against Taliban, 26 March 2009 

Afghan Tribe Makes First Step in Anti-Taliban Pact

Afghan Tribe Makes First Step in Anti-Taliban Pact by Bringing in Alleged Collaborator, The Canadian Press, 11 February 2010

EXCERPT: "The man accused of running drugs and abetting the Taliban sat on a bench in a room full of Afghan elders, glancing warily at the American diplomat and the Afghan police commander on either side of him. The Americans had been planning to arrest 28-year-old Qari Rahmat, but held off in the hope that the leaders of his Shinwari tribe would persuade him to mend his ways. The turnaround came this week, around a table laden with fruit and soft drinks, when Rahmat stood up and pledged fealty to the law and the Afghan constitution. He also denied having collaborated with the Taliban, but everyone seemed content to ignore the past so long as he was sincere about the future. The scene that unfolded Tuesday, in front of U.S. military commanders and a dozen bearded, shawl-draped elders, was the first evidence that the Shinwari tribe is making good on a pact signed by 170 elders last month to banish the Taliban from their corner of eastern Afghanistan. The U.S. pledged more than $1 million to the tribe for development after the signing of the January agreement. Some may see it as a glimmer of hope that the Iraq experience of allying with tribes to fight insurgents can be replicated in Afghanistan."

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Related articles:
Tribe and prejudice: America's "new hope" in Afghanistan, The National, 11 February 2010
Seeking reconciliation, US units meet remote Afghanistan tribes, The Christian Science Monitor, 10 February 2010
A look at America's new hope: The Afghan tribes, The New York Times, 29 January 2010
Tribal leader says deal will help Afghanistan beat Taliban, Radio Free Europe / Radio Liberty, 29 January 2010

Related posts:
Afghan government reservedly backs tribal cash plan, 5 February 2010
Afghan tribe to fight Taliban in return for aid from US, 28 January 2010
Tribal engagement in Afghanistan, 26 February 2009
Enlisting tribes against militants carries risks, 24 November 2008