Afghan National Police

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Afghan National Police
د افغانستان ملي پولیس (Pashto)
پولیس ملی افغانستان (Persian)
Abbreviation ANP
220x140px
Coat of Arms of the Afghan National Police with English Text
Flag of the Afghan National Police (English).svg
Flag of the Afghan National Police with English Text
Agency overview
Formed 1747
Employees 157,000 (September 2013)[1]
Legal personality Governmental: Government agency
Jurisdictional structure
National agency Afghanistan
General nature
Operational structure
Headquarters Kabul, Afghanistan
Agency executive Omar Daudzai, Minister of the Interior
Afghan police patrol

The Afghan National Police (ANP; Pashto: د افغانستان ملي پولیس ‎; Persian: پلیس ملی افغانستان‎‎) is the primary police force of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across the country. The agency is under the responsibility of Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior, headed by Omar Daudzai. The ANP has about 157,000 active members as of September 2013,[1] which is expected to reach 160,000 by the end of 2014.[2]

The Afghan police traces its roots to the early 18th-century when the Hotaki dynasty was established in Kandahar followed by Ahmad Shah Durrani's rise to power. It was reorganized in 1880 during Emir Abdur Rahman Khan's reign. Anecdotal evidence suggests that a first police-like force was created with the establishment of the modern Afghan state under the Durrani dynasty between 1747 and 1826.2 Similarly, we know from personal accounts that a Talim Gahi Police (police training center) was first established in Kabul in 1935 (1314 in the Afghan Solar Hijri calendar). With the assistance of Germany, this later developed into a “gendarme and police school” – starting a long history of cooperation between Afghanistan and Germany in the field of police work. During WWII, the school was supported by Turkey. In 1946 (1325), the school was turned into a Shuwanzai Aali Police (higher police school) and Germany resumed the sending of police trainers. During the reign of King Zahir Shah, the higher police school was turned into a “Police Academy” in 1964 (1343), which has existed in some form or another until today.3 The single police force of the 1960s and 1970s was trained by experts from both Eastern and Western Germany. The legal framework at the time was based on the Afghan Law of Police and Gendarmes 1973 and the Afghan Law of Employment, Promotion and Retirement of Police and Gendarmes 1973. Other legislation with a direct impact on policing included the Penal Code 1976 and the Criminal Procedure Code 1965 (much of both still remain in force today; further evidence of why the ‘60s and ‘70s are often considered the ‘golden age’ of law enforcement).

In 1978, the communist regime of the newly reigning People’s Democratic Party sought to stifle mounting dissent by resorting to authoritarian methods such as disappearances and summary executions. As of 1979, different armed groups controlled Afghanistan, often as actors of different international forces (USA, Pakistan, Soviet Union). Policing functions were filled by intelligence agencies, and thousands of political prisoners were detained and subjected to torture and ill-treatment.4

In 1989, Afghanistan, the Soviet Union, the USA and Pakistan signed a peace agreement, following which the Police Academy was re-established in Kabul--only to be shut down again three years later when the peace agreement had failed. The mujahedeen alliance that was nominally in power from 1992-1995 split into numerous factions and was torn apart by internecine fighting. Human rights violations abounded, and mujahedeen groups allegedly detained, tortured and killed people. A police force in the common sense of the word had, by this stage, long ceased to exist.5

At the time the Taliban came into power in Kabul in 1996, many war-fatigued citizens welcomed their arrival and the supposed reestablishment of security. However, the Taliban’s approach to policing was to establish the feared Department for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice. Their strict interpretation of sharia law led to a spade of arrests for violations of newly imposed laws, followed by enforcement of the law through amputations and death sentences.6

In April 2003, after more than 23 years of unrest, the Afghan National Police (ANP) was created by presidential decree. The decree defined the role of the police and the Ministry of the Interior (MoI) and specified the role of the army and the intelligence services. Today, improvements and successful moves towards reform have been made. The ANP still faces major challenges, particularly with respect to the need to earn public confidence. EUPOL has been working with its MoI and ANP partners for five years to help improve the image of the police and establish it once again as a force in the service of the common man.


1. In addition to a thorough review of publicly available documents, this note is based on in-person interviews with Senior Afghan Law Lecturers at the Kabul Police Academy in June, July and August 2010.

2. Cf. Global Rights, “Practical Guideline on Criminal Justice and Judicial Procedures in Afghanistan,” 3rd edition 2010, Chapter One: Police and Their Role in Discovery of Crime (“Global Rights”). The Guideline explains that police organizations at the time were called “Zabt Begee” and performed their duties under names such as “Kotawal,” “Assas,” and “Polis.”

3. Cf. Global Rights.

4. Amnesty International, “Afghanistan: Police Reconstruction Essential for the Protection of Human Rights,” March 2003, AI Index: ASA 11/003/2003 (“Amnesty”).

5. Amnesty.

6. Amnesty.

The current ANP was rebuilt after the removal of the Taliban government in late 2001. Various government agencies from the United States as well as Germany's Bundespolizei (BPOL) and the United Kingdom's Ministry of Defence Police provided most of the early training. In 2007, the EU-led mission (EUPOL Afghanistan) was heading the civilian policing in the Kabul area but by 2005 the United States established training programs in all the provinces of Afghanistan. As of 2009, it is being trained by the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan.

Police officers in Afghanistan are largely illiterate. Approximately 17 percent of them tested positive for illegal drugs in 2010. They were widely accused of demanding bribes.[3] Attempts to build a credible Afghan police force were faltering badly, according to NATO officials.[4] A quarter of the officers quit every year, making the Afghan government's goals of substantially building up the police force even harder to achieve.[4]

History

Afghan police (c. 1879)

The modern Afghan police force has its origins to the Hotaki and Durrani Empire in the early 18th century, and over the centuries it was slowly modernized. The agency remained in existence throughout the Saur Revolution and Soviet occupation that began in 1978/79 until Kabul fell in 1992 to the insurgents; the country descended into civil war and then came under the heel of the Taliban, who enforced a primitive and barbaric justice. After the collapse of the Taliban regime in late 2001, there was little in the nation resembling a functional police department as private armed militias of warlords quickly filled yet again the vacuum left behind by a lack of central governance. The Ministry of Interior in Kabul, under the new Karzai government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, exercised little control over provincial police structures and was unable to effectively secure the remote provinces. Most of these problems were established after the Fall of Kabul in 1992, when the Soviet-backed government of Najibullah fell apart and the country entered into anarchy and chaos. From 1978 to 1992 the Afghan police had firm control over the country, much thanks to the Soviet Union and other factors related to the Democratic Republic of Afghanistan or the Soviet war in the country.[5] Traditionally, police officers were poorly paid, recruited or conscripted from the poorest classes of society and frequently held in contempt by the communities they served. Compounding these factors, over two decades of unrest had also resulted in an illiteracy rate conservatively estimated at over 70% for police recruits.

Although early efforts had trained 35,000 officers in basic recruit schools during 2003 and 2004, this training was insufficient to strengthen the structures and senior command levels needed to create an effective police force. Germany, as lead nation for police under the Bonn II Agreement, concentrated its efforts on setting up the Kabul Police Academy and drafted the long range blueprint for restructuring the police services. Except for Kunduz Province which had a Provincial Reconstruction Team (PRT), Germany's program had only limited reach into the provinces. As the US Department of State International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs Bureau's (INL) activity at this time was limited in resources and scope, the US Departments of Defense and State, in 2005, decided to shift the implementation of the police training and equipment program to the Office of Security Cooperation-Afghanistan (OSC-A), under the authority of the Commanding General, Combined Forces Command (CFC-A). In 2006, OSC-A became the Combined Security Transition Command – Afghanistan (CSTC-A) keeping the OSC-A mission.

File:Afghan police commander marching.jpg
ANP commander marching to greet distinguished visitors at the Afghan National Police Academy (ANPA) in 2010.

The 2005 changes led to an increased impetus to implement significant reform programs, particularly the reform of higher staff levels at the Ministry of the Interior, the placement of police mentors throughout the country, substantial pay increases in the police salary plan and an impending, complete restructuring of the police payroll system. A nationwide reassessment of infrastructure and equipment needs was also undertaken, followed with the distribution of critically needed weapons, ammunition, vehicles, and office/dorm furniture. Although progress has been made in the areas of infrastructure, equipment and payroll distribution, these programs would take some time to reach fruition.

Headquarters of the ANP in Panjwayi, Kandahar Province.

In the late 2000s the number of ANP officers getting killed in the line of duty jumped very sharply, with over 1,600 officers being killed in the years 2008 and 2009. By 2012, Afghan officials estimated that about 200 police officers are killed in the line of duty each month.[6] Also see List of Afghan security forces fatality reports in Afghanistan.

In the meantime, ANP members have been accused of massacres and corruption. In 2012, one ANP from Paktia and two from Logar were arrested for kidnapping children. The police confessed to the crime, while one of the kidnapped boys said, "I received a phone call from the policemen who introduced themselves as my friends. They offered me a ride. I went unconscious after they dragged me into a car."[7] In January 2013, a police commander in Uruzgan Province was accused of killing 121 local people. He fled to Ghazni Province and authorities said they will soon arrest the fugitive.[8]

An ANP trainee practices riot control techniques at the Central Training Center

In early 2012, the Ministry of Interior provided 300 armoured vehicles to the 1st border police brigade stationed around the porous Durand Line, in Nangarhar province. Col. Mohammad Ayub Hussainkhel, the 3rd Border Police Brigade Commander, said "the border police are now capable of maintaining better security for the Durand Line and to prevent infiltration of militants into the province from Pakistan."[9] In February 2012, the United States promised that it would support the government of Afghanistan to protect its sovereignty and effectively control its borders.[10] At a 2012 meeting with Danish Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt in Chicago, US President Barack Obama said, "We are going to be consulting with not only Denmark but our other allies in making sure that is a smooth transition and one that is sustained, where we continue to help the Afghan government support its own sovereignty and effectively control its borders."[11] In April 2013, the Ministry of Interior announced a strategy to strengthen and make the ANP professional with support from the international community. It is a ten-year plan designed to make the ANP become more closer to a Western standards police force.[12]

Structure

Graduation day at the Ministry of the Interior in 2012
An Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) honor guard stands in formation at the Ministry of the Interior in 2010.
Afghan Border Police (ABP) at Islam Qala in western Herat Province.

The Afghan National Police (ANP) is an organization that falls under the control and responsibility of the Afghan Ministry of Interior, along with the Counter-Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) and the Counter Terrorism Department. The ANP is composed of the following sub-agencies:

  1. Afghan Uniform Police
  2. Afghan Highway Police
  3. Afghan Border Police
  4. Criminal Investigation Department
  5. Afghan Local Police (ALP) Now part of ANP

Uniform police

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Main article: Afghan National Civil Order Police

The Afghan Uniform Police (AUP) is the primary civil law enforcement agency in Afghanistan. The ANP is divided into five regional commands (north, south, east, west and central) as well as the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP). Other forces falling under the command and control of the ANP include local traffic police departments as well as the fire department.

Highway police

The Afghan Highway Police (AHP) was a sub-department of the national police that is currently dissolved with only speculation of return. Their primary responsibility was to provide traffic safety and overall security of the "Ring Road" highway that connects most of the major population centers in Afghanistan. Most of the personnel, equipment and facilities that comprise the highway police were reorganized under the uniform police.

Border police

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Main article: Afghan Border Police

The Afghan Border Police (ABP) are responsible for securing all the borders with neighboring countries and international airports of Afghanistan against the illegal entry of persons as well as the smuggling of contraband. The ABP is divided into six regional zones, with headquarters in Mazar-i-Sharif, Fayzabad, Jalalabad, Gardez, Kandahar, and Herat. As of January 2011, there are at least 25 U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection officers providing training to the Afghan Border Police. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano stated that the number could reach 65 or more by the end of 2011. Napolitano visited the Torkham border crossing with Pakistan and was satisfied with the progress being made there.[13][14] The ABP specific duties include the following:

  • Provide border security patrols within a security zone that extends 55 km into the territory of Afghanistan.
  • Provide immigration / visa services and investigate immigration violations.
  • Establish and maintain border crossing points, to include all international airports within the country.
  • Provide perimeter, building, aircraft and passenger security of international airports.
  • Arrest and deport illegal persons.

Criminal Investigation Department

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) is staffed with 4,148 investigators spread over the nation with the majority in Kabul. They are tasked with investigation, crime scene forensic procedures, documentation of crime, and assisting other agencies to include assistance through the crime lab housed at the Ministry of Ministry of the Interior Affaris.

Training facilities and district headquarters

Inside the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) garrison in Kandahar Province
Afghan uniformed policewomen training marksmanship techniques at Kabul Military Training Center.

The United States Army Corps of Engineers is building nearly 200 modern police stations for the Afghan National Police. The total cost of the project was reported to be over $600 million US dollars, and each police station is said to cost about $6 million.[15]

The main ANP training facility in Kabul was established by the German police mission and is now led by the United States.

Regional ANP training facilities have been established in:

Rank structure

Col. Abdul Eliam, Chief of Police of Helmand province.
Brig. Gen. Ahmed Fahim Qayem, commander of the Central Unit, Police Zone 101.
Female ANP officers stands at attention during a pass and review formation before the start of the International Women's Day ceremony at the Ministry of Interior in Kabul on March 4, 2010.

General officers

Officers

  • Colonel
  • Lieutenant Colonel
  • Major
  • Captain
  • First Lieutenant
  • Second Lieutenant

Non-commissioned and enlisted

  • Staff Sergeant
  • Sergeant
  • First Corporal
  • Corporal
  • Soldier[16]

Rank disparities

Some ranks are known by several names. These disparities are most-likely caused through different translations from Dari to western languages as well as being interpreted differently by inherently unrelated agencies such as the U.S. military versus the German Police. The role of the "sergeant", or non-commissioned officer, is not well developed and is often overlooked by the prestige associated with being a regular, or commissioned, officer (lieutenant or higher). This lack of emphasis on the subordinate ranks has also stunted the clear definition of ranks as well as their roles and responsibilities.

The ranks of 3rd Lieutenant and Senior Captain are being phased out after the Ministry of Interior underwent a Rank Reform process in which they eliminated a disproportionate amount of senior-ranking officers within the police. These ranks are believed to have served as a way to better distinguish and balance out an extremely top-heavy leadership corps.

Known alternative titles

2nd Patrolman Soldier
1st Patrolman Soldier
Sergeant 3rd Sergeant
Staff Sergeant 2nd Sergeant
Senior Sergeant 1st Sergeant

Rank reform

ANP cadets stand in ranks while they receive instructuon before boarding buses headed for Kabul International Airport on their way to Turkey for a six-week advanced NCO training course.

The original formation of police and security forces saw an overwhelming majority of senior-ranking personnel due to disorganization and corruption. It was not uncommon to find someone holding a senior rank, such as lieutenant colonel, possessing minimal qualifications or having little to no responsibilities for a rank of that stature. It was a period of total mismanagement that allowed people to use bribery and other forms of influence to gain prominent positions in the national police force. It was soon evident that the organization was “top heavy” and thus ineffective in conducting the daily duties expected of the police. Furthermore, many leaders inside the Ministry of Interior were guilty of human rights violations and other forms of blackmail and corruption. There was an obvious need to reorganize and repair this broken ministry.

File:Afghan Police at Forward Operating Base Ghazni.jpg
Afghan Police at Forward Operating Base Ghazni

MOI began a Rank Reform initiative in October 2005 to completely overhaul and replace its existing leadership structure and composition. The United Nations and ISAF forces conducted background checks on all eligible candidates in attempt to thwart the acceptance of MOI leaders with past human rights violations or records of corruption. Concurrent with rank reform, salary reform was also implemented to match their pay with that of their equivalent counterparts in the Afghan National Army who had been receiving higher pay from their inception.

Despite rank and pay reform, it is still very common to see a disproportionate level of senior-ranking officers within the police force. Although these officers have been "reformed" and their rank and pay adjusted to "sergeant", for example, they will still wear the rank of "captain", or whatever they feel is appropriate, in an effort to retain more authority. Corruption, bribery and treason are also still very common in the national police.

Widespread corruption in all levels of the ANP has long been a major problem for the combating of the Taliban insurgency. It was reported in 2008 that Taliban fighters of both high and low rank have been able to quickly buy their release from police custody with bribes ranging from $100–$10,000.[17] Drug use, defections to the Taliban and sexual harassment of female officers within the ANP were also reported.[18] Due to the high level of corruption, the Afghan government began to send the relatively un-corrupted Afghan National Army to more sensitive scenarios. In January 2013, Hakim Shujayee, a Hazara police commander in Uruzgan Province was accused by higher authorities of killing 121 local people. He fled to Ghazni Province and the Minister of the Interior promised to bring him into custody very shortly.[8]

Equipment

ANP Ford Ranger in Kunar Province
An Afghan National Police woman qualifies on the AMD-65 rifle during the tactical training program portion of the police basic training course at Kabul Military Training Center

The primary vehicle of the ANP is the four-wheel drive, diesel, 4-door Ford Ranger (and Ranger SORVs), provided by the United States by the thousands. Other vehicles include Humvees, diesel-powered variants of the U.S. consumer Nissan Frontiers, Toyota Hilux pickup trucks imported from Thailand, and Volkswagen Transporter T4/Eurovans, as well as Yamaha motorcycles donated by Japan. Older vehicles, like the UAZ-469 all-terrain vehicle, were obtained from the Soviet Union.

Weapons

Uniforms and body armour sometimes mismatched and poorly distributed. Most police personnel are issued at least one uniform that is traded out for warmer/cooler uniforms depending on the season. It is common to find a varying array of blue, green and gray uniforms amongst the police due to different manufacturers and the rapid growing of the force with many people joining. Some police have resorted to having their own uniforms custom made. Body armour and helmets are seldom given to individual soldiers and are often given out on an as-needed basis. The composition of this equipment varies between American, Russian and Chinese military grade equipment to 3rd party equipment that provides little-to-no real protection. Plans to upgrade weapons and uniform are being drafted by the Afghan government. Typically the ANP badge is worn on one shoulder and the Afghanistan flag on the other.

In August 2010, an order was placed for 2,526 M1152A1 Humvees with B2 armor kits, for the Afghan police and National Guard.[19]

Current status

Azizullah aiming a modified AMD-65 in the Paktika Province.

The number of the Afghan National Police was reported at 157,000 in September 2013,[1] which is expected to reach 160,000 by the end of 2014.[2] They are to be continuously reformed until the force qualifies and internationally accepted.

Controversies

Special US-backed militia commander Azizullah, an ethnic Tajik, has been accused of murders, rapes and other crimes,[20] and is a high-profiled target of assassination.

Gallery

  • Afghan National Police recruits listen to instructors before firing their rifles at a range near the regional training center for the ANP near Gardez

  • Afghan National Police recruits participate in entry-level training at the Central Training Center, Kabul

  • Afghan police women prepare to graduate from Women’s Police Corps training at the Regional Training Center in Mazar-e-Sharif

  • Afghan National Police assisted by a U.S. army Private first class during training at the Afghan police headquarters in Charreh Dera

  • Afghan National Civil Order Police recruits in a riot control training exercise during a training course at the Central Training Center

  • Afghan Uniform Police officers in a training at the Afghan Local Police (ALP) Provincial Training Center in Ghazni, Ghazni province

  • Afghan National Police women qualify on the AK-47 rifle during the tactical training program portion of the police basic training course at Kabul Military Training Center (2010)

  • Afghan police recruits learn hand to hand combat (4934619922).jpg

    An Afghan National Police instructor shows two police recruits how to perform hand-to-hand combat techniques at the Gardez Regional Training Center (2010)

  • Afghan national police officer in Ghazni Province

  • Afghan Uniform Police NCO displays his certificate of completion at Kandahar Regional Training Center.jpg

    An Afghan Uniform Police noncommissioned officer and literacy course graduate displays his certificate of completion during a graduation ceremony at the Kandahar Regional Training Center in southern Afghanistan (2012)

  • Afghan National Police Recruits Learn Baton Defense (4811926232).jpg

    Afghan National Police practice baton defense at Recruit Training Center-Kandahar (RTC-K)

  • Afghan police women inspect the air filter on a vehicle prior to their driving lesson at the Regional Training Center in Mazar-e-Sharif

  • Female Afghan National Police Cadets Train (4790008586).jpg

    Female ANP Cadets training marksmanship

  • Italian Carabinieri shows a female Afghan National Police recruit how to aim an AMD-65 at the Central Training Center in Kabul

  • An Afghan Local Police (ALP) officer instructs female Afghan Local Police officers near Forward Operating Base Airborne, Wardak province

  • A female Afghan National Police recruit during an eight-week basic police training course at the Central Training Center in Kabul

  • Female ANP Cadets training marksmanship

  • New ANP graduates marching in Balkh Province

  • Afghan police road block.jpg

    Kuh-e Safi district policemen nearby Dandar village during a vehicle check point training exercise

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 Another female police officer shot in Afghanistan, Mirwais Khan and Amir Shah, Associated Press (AP). September 15, 2013.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Afghanistan to have strong air force by 2016: Azimi
  7. ↑ Policemen detained for kidnapping children Pajhwok Afghan News. January 8. 2012.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Security and Crime: Border police equipped with advanced weaponry
  10. ↑ Re-demarcation of borders with neighbours suggested
  11. ↑ US to help Afghanistan control its borders: Obama
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ U.S. spending $600 million on Afghan police stations, McClatchy. February 22, 2010.
  16. ↑ Afghan National Police /
  17. ↑ Newsweek: Afghan Prison Blues February 11, 2008 Issue
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ http://www.nytimes.com/2014/05/31/opinion/the-wrong-afghan-friends.html?_r=1

External links

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