AFP/The National, 17 September 2017
AAN’s Kate Clark comments on plans to establish a new paramilitary set-up in Afghanistan, a so-called Afghan Territorial Army:
But critics fear that rather than support Afghanistan’s beleaguered security forces, a government-armed militia could aggravate factionalism and push Afghanistan deeper into conflict.
“It’s a tool that the US military and successive Afghan governments have reached for and it looks like a solution to their problems but actually the real solution would be to have a functioning ANA (Afghan National Army) and ANP (Afghan National Police),” said Kate Clark, a senior analyst at the Afghanistan Analysts Network.
“It’s a dangerous thing to play with, arming your civilians.”
Revisions:
This article was last updated on 9 Mar 2020
