In 2006, the Afghan government (supported by NATO) tried to supplement struggling police forces in southern Afghanistan by enlisting tribal forces and strongmen militias as the “ Afghan National Auxiliary Police” (pictured below). By 2005 many warlords and strongmen funneled their militias into private security companies and won lucrative contracts guarding foreign bases, public highways, businesses, etc.
Many militias were incorporated wholesale into the new Afghan security forces, while others became auxiliary forces to Special Forces and the CIA. The full report was last updated in October 2020.Īfter 2001, commanders and political factions took advantage of international funds and a market for force to re-hat and sustain their forces. A parallel version of the report exists on AAN’s website.įor a summary of the main findings, keep scrolling to explore our photo essay. The full report as well as an executive summary are available for download. Where the ALP has been mobilized in environments to which it is not suited, or where it has been mismanaged, it has brought significant harm to local people, and they have suffered lasting damage. Despite some recognition of the risk of co-option at the outset, pressure to roll the ALP out in areas where it was not appropriate, as well as failure to develop it slowly enough to enable meaningful institutional or community controls, led to more negative than positive examples of local forces. Overall, our research suggests that, while local defense forces can bring benefits in securing territory and protecting communities, they will not work in all areas. Part of a three-year project exploring local, hybrid, and sub-state forces, this joint research report by GPPi and the Afghanistan Analysts Network ( AAN) surveys the landscape of local forces mobilized since 2001, how well they delivered on the goals of community protection and conflict stabilization, and how these forces play into the prospects for peace, demobilization, and reintegration in Afghanistan. One of the longest-running initiatives, the 2010 Afghan Local Police ( ALP) was set to be defunded in September 2020, while other local forces, the Afghan National Army Territorial Force and a more shadowy group of state-supported community forces known as the Uprising Forces, appeared set to continue. Since 2001, the international military and the Afghan state have mobilized a range of local or community-based forces to fill security gaps and confront insurgent threats in the country.
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