Herat Arms Villagers to Secure Voting

With security uppermost in everyone’s mind ahead of Afghanistan’s elections, many communities have devised a homemade solution to the problem – private militias.



In Herat, the authorities promoted the idea at a news conference in the provincial capital Herat City under the slogan, “Your village will provide its own security during the elections!” The provincial government said it planned to recruit up to 1,000 men, who would be armed and asked to help the police during the August 20 poll.



“We have asked local clergy and community elders in all 15 districts to select men to support the police,” said Naqibullah Arvin, spokesman for the provincial governor. “They will mainly be deployed in their own areas, although special attention will be given to remote districts.”



Several districts in eastern Afghanistan have a heavy insurgent presence, giving rise to expectations of violence. Taleban and other opposition groups have repeatedly warned people not to participate in what they call “infidel” elections.



Without adequate security, many voters may choose to stay home, which could cast doubt on the legitimacy and credibility of the results.



But the question of rough-and-ready militias raises unfortunate images in the minds of many Afghans, who have suffered in the past at the hands of illegal armed groups.



“Militias can’t guarantee the security of the people in the villages,” said Abdul Majid from Herat City. “We tried it before in Afghanistan and it didn’t work. If the government is not able to provide security with 10,000 policemen in Herat province, how can they do it with untrained people?”



Noorkhan Nekzad, Herat’s police chief, would not confirm the total number of police, saying the information was “classified”.



There has been a long tradition of local militias in Afghanistan. In some parts of the country, particularly the eastern provinces of Loya Paktia, communities police themselves with the aid of “arbakai”, local men recruited by and answerable to the community.



However, groups of armed men operating in villages have more often been connected to increasing violence than to improved security. The experiment of the Karzai government in 2006 and 2007 with the so-called auxiliary police, arming untrained men to support the official police, failed. According to its many critics, the measure merely worsened the spread of criminality and violence in the provinces.



More recently, attempts have been made to set up what is called the Afghan Public Protection Force. So far, the United States-funded project is working only in Wardak province, and has not yet been expanded to the rest of the country.



For Heratis, the latest move smacks more of desperation than innovation.



“Tribal leaders have apparently reassured the worried government that they can provide security,” said political analyst Abdul Rahman Salahi. “But arming these men will only fan the flames of ethnic division. It is an illusion to think that people will disarm after the elections.”



Even on election day itself the militias will only cause trouble, thinks Salahi, and could contribute to fraud and falsification. “There is a strong possibility that these groups will fill the ballot boxes themselves,” he said.



“Innocent people will be hurt,” said Massoud of Pashtun Zarghon district, one of the more volatile areas of the province. “Arming people only increases the risk of fighting.”



This plan is not unique to Herat. Throughout the country, some 10,000 local people are being recruited, allowed to carry weapons and asked to help protect polling centres against possible attack. Media reports suggest that the makeshift militias will not be issued with weapons or uniforms, but will be allowed to carry their own guns.



The Taleban, meanwhile, have issued a warning to those who join the militia units.



“If we find people have been helping the election process for this infidel government, it will be very bad for them,” said Taleban commander Mullah Razzan.



However, he predicts confidently that the Taleban will not have to spend any time looking for militiamen.



“No villager will dare to take up arms against us,” he said.



Shapoor Saber is an IWPR-trained journalist in Herat.