Fears Over Afghan Security Firm Ban

President Hamid Karzai’s decision to ban all private security companies from Afghanistan has received a warm domestic welcome, despite fears that the move could threaten the country’s fragile security situation.

Some privately-owned security firms have been accused of robbery and human rights abuses, with poorly trained, undisciplined staff putting civilian lives at risk. There have also been accusations that some companies bribe the Taleban to allow them to pass through insurgent-controlled territory.

Khan Agha, 27, a resident of Kabul city, said he was extremely happy with the decree.

“I believe that if Karzai has taken one right decision in the last eight years, it is the disbandment of these companies,” he said. “I know of people who’ve been involved in robberies and other crimes in their regions, and are now armed and with these companies, so what we can expect from them?”

The sight of armed security men roaming the city reminded him of the dark days of the civil war of the early Nineties, he added.

But the international forces have warned that the four-month deadline given for security firms to disband is too short, and risks creating further instability.

As the Afghan National Police, ANP and Afghan National Army, ANA, lacked the training and capacity to ensure security across the country, the private firms have been called on to fill the gap. Most of them provide security for foreign logistical convoys, businesses, NGOs, and public figures.

Announcing the move on August 16, Karzai condemned private companies which were “not only providing much inconvenience to the Afghan people, but are actually, God knows, in contact with Mafia-like groups, and perhaps also funding militants and insurgents and terrorists”.

He said there were 40,000 armed men employed by these companies and outside the government’s control, and they could not be allowed to exist as a parallel security system to the ANA and ANP.

According to interior ministry spokesman Zmarai Bashari, there are currently 51 security companies, 25 of them Afghan and 26 international, with some 22,000 registered employees.

The Afghan companies include many owned by relatives of the political elite, including Watan Risk Management, established by two of Karzai's cousins, and NLC Holdings, run by Hamed Wardak, the son of the defence minister.

There are also numerous unregistered security companies operating illegally, and employing tens of thousands of staff.

The US government says conditions are not yet stable enough for the private security companies to be disbanded.

“Washington believes that currently the Afghan [government] security units are not ready yet to take over the security responsibilities of the country,” State Department spokesman Philip Crowley said.

US senator John Kerry, recently in Kabul for talks with Karzai, said that while the role played by security companies should be reduced, the four month deadline set by Karzai was unrealistic.

His position was backed by General Josef Blotz, spokesman for the International Security Assistance Force, ISAF, who said that there needed to be "enough Afghan national security forces that can provide the necessary security” before private security companies could withdraw.

But Afghan public opinion appears to largely support the move.

Fahim, from the Sayed Abad district of Wardak province, southwest of Kabul, said armed men from a private security company had killed his uncle in his village shop and in the last two years had robbed and killed many innocent residents of other villages such as Sultan Khil, Salar and Dand.

“Not only should these companies be closed, but I want Karzai to imprison the accused criminal members of these companies and enforce the rule of law against them,” he added.

Interior ministry spokesman Bashari acknowledged that private security companies had been accused of illegal activities, but he declined to elaborate further. He said that the interior ministry had already disarmed hundreds of private security operatives, and he expressed confidence that the Afghan police force was ready to take over all the tasks currently performed by private firms.

“It will be very good if the members of security companies be integrated into national police and national army forces,” said Bashari.

Karzai’s spokesman Wahid Omer said the unregistered firms would be tackled first, while companies providing security for foreign embassies and compounds in Kabul would continue to operate.

Political analyst and writer Wahid Mujhda said that Karzai’s move would create conflict with the US government, which relies on these companies.

Nurulhaq Olumi, a political analyst and a member of parliament from Kandahar, also supported the move, which he believed would address problems shared by both the Afghans and the US.

“President Karzai’s decision on private security companies was a proper decision,” he said, adding that former employees of these firms could be enrolled in the police and army if they showed sufficient discipline.

Not everyone is confident that the absence of private firms will bring greater security, though.

Haroon, a driver from Ghazni, said he had relied on them to allow him to do his job. Along the Kabul to Kandahar road – a crucial supply route – he said there were no ANP or ANA forces, and travel would be impossible without the presence of security companies.

“If armed members of these companies weren’t there, no one could pass along our roads,” he said. “These private security companies can fight against the Taleban. The police are gutless and just try to save themselves.”

Habiburrahman Ibrahimi is an IWPR-trained journalist.