The third phase of transfer of security duties to Afghan forces has not been completed, and NATO has requested the government to identify areas to be transferred in the fourth phase.
The third phase of transfer of security duties to Afghan forces has not been completed, and NATO has requested the government to identify areas to be transferred in the fourth phase. Governors interviewed by Killid challenge the internationals’ positive view of the process so far.In response to a statement from NATO Senior Civilian spokesperson, Dominic Medley, on Oct. 12 that President Hamid Karzai has until year-end to specify provinces that will be covered, Emal Faizi, the spokesman in the president’s office, said, “The sooner the security is transferred it will beneficial for Afghans.”
There are concerns that the last two rounds of the five-phase withdrawal of NATO forces are likely to be the most difficult. Officials in the Ministry of Defense (MoD) say the most insecure areas are yet to be handed over to Afghan police and army.
General Zahir Azimi, MoD spokesperson, said, “We have started the security transfer from calm areas and we are going towards the insecure areas.” According to the general, Afghan security forces are committed to taking over security duties but they have not been provided with the equipment by the US and NATO.
According to the Minister of Defense, General Abdul Rahim Wardak, “To organise for a long-term war we need heavy weapons, combat aircrafts, anti-air capabilities and armoured vehicles and weapons.”
Transition roadmap
At a press conference on Oct 8, President Karzai blamed the NATO and US for not providing hardware or “strengthening” Afghan security forces. He said bluntly that Afghanistan would buy weapons from Russia, China, India and other countries if the West does not keep to its agreement. By end-2014, international forces, who have been in Afghanistan since 2001, would have pulled out and handed over security duties to their Afghan counterparts.
The Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) have been taking control of security responsibility, fulfilling a roadmap decided in Lisbon, in November 2010. The transition strategy began in July 2011. “The third wave of provinces to enter the transition process was announced on 13 May 2012. This means that 75 percent of Afghanistan’s population will soon be living in areas where the ANSF have taken the lead for security,” the Chicago Summit Declaration on Afghanistan had stated in May this year.
The third wave of provinces to enter the transition process are parts of Kandahar, Baghlan, Farah, Faryab, Khost, Kunar, Kunduz, Nuristan, Paktika, Paktia, Uruzgan, Kapisa, Takhar, Samangan, Parwan, Panjshir, Nimruz, Kabul, Daikundi, Bamyan and Balkh. By mid-2013, all parts of Afghanistan will have begun transition according to the Lisbon roadmap.
On Oct 16, Brig General Richard Cripwell, director of Strategic Transition Group, ISAF, said at a press conference the transition has not been completed in Nuristan, Zabul, Khost, Farah and Paktia. “I hope the Afghan government will accomplish security transfer ceremonies in the five provinces as well by end of next month,” the ISAF brig general said.
The Chicago declaration states “the success of transition has been enabled by the substantial improvement of the ANSF since Lisbon in terms of capability and professionalism.” Interviews by Killid have revealed a very different mood on the ground.
Hasty retreat
People interviewed in Uruzgan province – where the transfer under the third phase was completed on July 17 – said Afghan forces are not equipped to take the lead in operations.
Jawed, who is from Uruzgan province, was of the view the security transfer “has been accomplished hurriedly in the province”. According to him, there is a “great insecurity on the ground” both in Uruzgan and neighbouring Lugar. He feared Afghan security forces, who were undertrained and underequipped, would not be able to provide security in Uruzgan where even the presence of foreign troops “did not have any effect on ensuring security”.
Governor of Logar, Taher Khan Sabari, has also said the transfer was rushed through. “Our request was that first the local police must be strengthened but as of now this not happened.”
Governor of Herat Nasirudin Jami told Killid the international community has not delivered on its promises to Herat City where security was handed over to Afghan forces under the first phase of the transfer process in July 2011. “The Afghan government has kept its promise (on taking over control of security) but the international community has not,” Governor Jami said. The governor has identified the key failures of the transfer process as lack of transparency in the selection of areas to make the transfer, the weak police in districts, and failure to adequately equip the ANSF.
Deputy Governor of Panjshir, Abdul Rahman Kabiri, said he had urged the government to correct the deficiencies in the first two phases of the transfer before starting on the third. “The improvements we were expecting before the implementation of the third phase have not materialised,” he said. Governor of Helmand Gulab Mangal also said “many suggestions” were made. Ghulam Sakhi Nekpai, the head of security in Bamyan, told Killid, “We should be given armored vehicles. Then we can surely defend Bamyan.”
There are concerns that poorly equipped Afghan forces may have to rely on foreign troops even in areas that have been transferred under their control. Retired General Atiqullah Amarkhail was of the opinion that this option would be “problematic”.
