KABUL: The Afghan government has established a new force on the lines of local militia to protect the areas that the army secures from insurgents, officials said on Sunday.
The United States, which bankrolls the Afghan security forces and has led the war on terror since the ouster of the Taliban regime in 2001, has also endorsed the newly established groups termed as the “Regional Forces of the National Army.”
The local militia will be 360,000-strong, armed with US-made M4 and M16 guns, and will be mostly deployed in the eastern and northwestern regions of the country where the insurgents have stepped up their attacks in recent months, the defense ministry officials said.
“The force comprises volunteers who have had experience in security forces because they will have more acquaintance with the terrain and the people,” General Mohammad Radmanesh, a spokesman for the defense ministry which leads the force, told Arab News.
The force will undergo another biometric test and will be absorbed after local representatives from their communities guarantee the volunteers loyalty toward the establishment, he said.
It will be stationed either in posts or will operate from their homes, the general said.
Aged between 20 and 40, this force will enjoy almost similar concessions that the regular army receives from the government and will be answerable to army generals stationed in various brigades and army regional corps, he added.
“Their job is to secure and protect the areas that can come under threat once they are liberated by the security forces of Afghanistan after the operations. We are making sure that there is no corruption and misuse in the process,” he said.
Keeping the troops stationed in areas secured from the insurgents has been a big challenge for the Afghan security forces, given the vast terrain of Afghanistan and the robustness of the insurgency force.
Radmanesh said the Afghan public and politicians have voiced their backing for the government’s decision.
However, Fauzia Zaki, a lawmaker, said a large number of parliamentarians opposed the move during a debate in the House.
“It is like forming a militia that will act independently and can further damage the government’s reputation. This is not in the interest of the country. We have rejected this idea,” she told Arab News.
“There is no need for this extra force when we have national police and the national army,” she said.
Recalling the formation of a similar militia force in various parts of Afghanistan during the Soviet invasion of the country, she said the force later rebelled against the then communist regime and played a key role in its collapse.
The formation of a regional force under the command of the defense ministry comes amid public complaints of alleged corruption and abuse exhibited by the local police force, formed more than eight years ago in Afghanistan.