Afghanistan Analysts Network – English

Posts tagged: Afghan Local Police

Afghan Local Police

A Maelstrom of Militias: Takhar, a case study of strongmen co-opting the ALP

Kate Clark •

When the Ministry of Interior officials and human rights activists are asked where the worst Afghan Local Police (ALP) are, Takhar province is usually on the list. The reasons given are the enduring power of local strongmen over the force and the involvement of ALP units in crime, especially drug smuggling, and abuses of the […]

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How to Set up a ‘Good ALP’: The experience of Yahyakhel district, Paktika and how it became more peaceful

Fazl Rahman Muzhary • Kate Clark •

Yahyakhel district in Paktika province was once as pro-Taleban as it is now pro-government. The turning point came in 2011/2012, with the formation of a tribal militia, which was soon formalised into an Afghan Local Police (ALP) unit. Unlike many other ALP units, it has enjoyed local popular support and control. It has not abused […]

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The Assault in Sayad: Did Taleban and Daesh really collaborate?

Obaid Ali •

Armed militants have overrun Afghan Local Police (ALP) and a public uprising unit’s posts in the Mirza Olang village of Sayad district in Sar-e Pul province on 6 August 2017. Dozens of civilians were reportedly killed. There is another dimension, however, that created widespread international media reporting about the incident: claims by local officials that […]

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Far From Back to Normal: The Kunduz crisis lingers on

Lola Cecchinel •

The Taleban’s recent takeover of both Qala-ye Zal and Dasht-e Archi’s district centres is the latest episode in the long-running battle for possession of Kunduz province. It follows the spectacular takeover of Kunduz’s provincial centre by insurgents in late September 2015, the hard-won recapture by pro-government forces two weeks later and the government’s unsuccessful counter-offensive […]

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Under threat since 2014: The Sangin district governor’s office, with hesco barriers (Source: Pajhwok Afghan News, 2015)

Helmand (2): The chain of chiefdoms unravels

Rahmatullah Amiri •

In Helmand in the second half of 2015, the ‘dominos’ started to fall, with successive areas of the province coming under Taleban control. During the United States surge, a line of ‘chiefdoms’ was created, where Afghan National Police (ANP), Afghan Local Police (ALP) and militia commanders managed to consolidate control of local areas. In 2015, […]

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Zamindawar, Kajaki district. Taleban were never eliminated during the US ’surge’ from this and other areas of northern Helmand: later, they would use them as a launchpad to re-emerge. (Photo Credit: Rahmatullah Amiri, August 2013)

Helmand (1): A crisis a long time coming

Rahmatullah Amiri •

The rapid fall of entire areas of Helmand to the Taleban during the second half of 2015 and early 2016 has left the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) scrambling to hold the line and try to push back, and led to international forces deploying troops to the province. Guest author Rahmatullah Amiri* brings a special […]

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The End of a Police Chief: Factional rivalries and pre-election power struggles in Kunduz

Lola Cecchinel •

In the beginning, it looked like good news: had Kunduz police chief, Khalil Andarabi, been sacked because he had led Afghan Local Police (ALP) and militia units on a looting rampage against civilians? If this were the case, it would have meant that the bad track record of the Local Police and illegal militias was […]

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The year it became ‘Afghan versus Afghan’

AAN Team •

Stars and Stripes, 30 December 2014 AAN’s country director in Afghanistan, Kate Clark, is extensively quoted in this year-ender: Kate Clark, a senior analyst with the Afghanistan Analyst Network, said the war for Afghans looks completely different than it did a year ago. “I think the nature of the war is changing,” she said. “It’s […]

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Bundeswehr stützte indirekt Warlords

AAN Team •

Tagesspiegel, 13 November 2013 THis Berlin-based daily also reports about Philipp Münch’s AAN report about the impact of the international intervention on Afghan power structures, asking the question whether “the glass is half-full or half-empty” after the intervention. The report adds the information that the German government has for the first time admitted that it supported […]

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Rare Afghan Haven at Risk as U.S. Departs

AAN •

Wall Street Journal, 31 October 2013 In this article we learn about district control in southern Afghanistan: Hutal, the district centre of Maiwand district (Kandahar province), is a "bubble" of government control, the only one in the district: "There is a health clinic and a functioning district administration. Women and children roam its streets freely, […]

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Bundeswehrabzug aus Afghanistan: Alle Macht den Terror-Milizen?

AAN Team •

ARD (German TV), 17 October 2013 The WDR’s investigative TV magazine “Monitor” looks into the German withdrawal from Kunduz and the ALP militias left behind. It gets the official statement of defence minister de Maiziere that Germany “neither participated in the establishment, equipment nor training of the ALP” while ALP leader Nabi Gechi confirms that Germans […]

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Transition in Uruzgan (1): The fights that don’t get mentioned

Martine van Bijlert •

The daily news in Afghanistan is dotted with reports of small-scale attacks, mostly on police posts, district centres and government convoys. These reports illustrate what is going on, but do not provide a full picture: a large proportion of attacks and incidents go unreported. Although the strategic importance of the individual scuffles tends to be […]

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