Security
Introduction
Afghanistan's geo-strategic position, moderate Islamic Republic and strong partnership with the international community make Afghanistan an essential contributor to both global and regional security. The political milestones mandated by the Bonn Agreement have been achieved to legitimize the Afghan Government and to pave the way towards a politically stable future. However, threats to national and personal security remain major impediments to growth and poverty reduction in spite of the very significant gains made within the sector since the establishment of the five pillar security sector strategy in 2002.
It is vital to our national development strategy that we maintain and, in some areas, increase investment to achieve core reforms and establish a security force size and structure that is both effective in meeting national security and development objectives, but one that is also fiscally sustainable. Insecurity continues to threaten our efforts to extend the rule of law into every part of the nation, undermining capacities in service delivery, and pushing up the transactions costs in execution of the national budget. The existence of mines and unexploded ordnance continues to pose a hazard to the agricultural and economic recovery of the country and until the rule of law is fully re-established to offer protection of self and property, people will be forced to seek such security through local networks, many of which are under the control of illegal militias. Moreover, without security, the private sector will limit the scale of formal activities and the illicit economy risk growing still further.
If the war against terror, illegal drugs and poverty is to be won, it is essential, not only to build Afghan security forces to a level where they can overmatch all threats to national sovereignty and interests but also put in place rule of law, justice and systems of good governance that will bring about peace, stability, economic growth and increased personal freedom. Yet, security and law enforcement measures must also be fiscally sustainable over the longer term.
Vision:
Government's goal with the direct support of the international community aims to establish a legitimate monopoly on force and law enforcement that provides a secure environment for the rights of the Afghan people to be fulfilled, embracing the freedom of movement for people, commodities and ideas, and social and economic development.
Security Sector Strategies & Programs:
To underpin the overall security sector reform program, the following four sub-programs have been developed to meet the overall national objectives:
- National Defence
- Internal Security and Law Enforcement
- Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups
- De-Mining
The implementing partners involved with the sector to achieve the above mentioned strategies and programs are as follow:
- Ministry of National Defence
- Ministry of Interior
- Ministry of Foreign Affairs
- General Directorate of National Security
- President Protection and National Security Council Department
Government Five-year Strategic Benchmarks for each Program:
National Defence
- Through Jaddi 1389 (end-2010), with the support of and in close coordination with the Afghan Government, the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and their respective Provincial Reconstruction Teams (PRTs) will promote security and stability in all regions of Afghanistan, including by strengthening Afghan capabilities
- By Jaddi 1389 (end-2010): the Government will establish a nationally respected, professional, ethnically balanced Afghan National Army that is democratically accountable, organized, trained and equipped to meet the security needs of the country and increasingly funded from Government revenue, commensurate with the nations economic capacity; support will continue to be provided to Afghanistan in expanding the ANA towards a ceiling of 70,000 personnel articulated in the Bonn talks; and the pace of expansion is to be adjusted on the basis of periodic joint quality assessments by the Afghan Government and the international community against agreed criteria which take into account prevailing conditions.
Internal Security and Law Enforcement
- By Jaddi 1389 (end-2010) a fully constituted, professional, functional and ethnically balanced Afghan National Police and Afghan Border Police with a combined force of up to 62,000 will be able to meet the security needs of the country effectively and will be increasingly fiscally sustainable.
Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups
- All illegal armed groups will be disbanded by Jaddi 1386 (end-2007) in all provinces
De-Mining
- By Jaddi 1389 (end-2010), in line with Afghanistans Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Afghanistans Ottawa Convention obligations, the land area contaminated by mines and unexploded ordnance will be reduced by 70%; all stockpiled antipersonnel mines will be located and destroyed by Jaddi 1386 (end-2007); and by Jaddi 1389 (end-2010) all unsafe, unserviceable, and surplus ammunition will be destroyed.
Progress/Achievements:
National Defence
- Ministry of Defence has reached the baseline and increased the Afghan National Army to 73,000 as the ceiling was increased from 70,000 and agreed by afghan government and international community. To ensure geographical and ethnic diversity, the ANA has recruitment centres in each of Afghanistans 34 provinces. Around 2,000 new recruits join the ANA every month and recruits complete 12-week training courses at the Kabul Military Training Centre (KMTC), with prospective commando soldiers completing 16-week courses. Government next step is to have a fiscally sustainable ANA.
Internal Security and Law Enforcement
- Ministry of Interior is almost to achieve their target on the numbers of police and the agreed ceiling of 62,000 at Bonn conference was increased to 82,000. Ministry of Interior established several forces of police such as Afghanistan Uniformed Police (AUP) authorized strength of 45,000, Afghanistan Border Police (ABP) authorized strength of 18,000, Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) authorized strength of 5,000, Counter Narcotics Police of Afghanistan (CNPA) authorized strength of 2,300 and small forces of Criminal Investigation Division Police (CIDP) and Counter Terrorism Police (CTP) to better control the internal security of country.