Hamid Karzai approves plan for new Afghan police force

Afghan president Hamid Karzai has approved of a controversial US plan for a new local defence force to help tackle the growing Taliban insurgency.

The formation of a local police force is a sensitive issue for Afghans who remember the notorious militias mobilised by the Soviets during their decade-long occupation in the 1980s, and the role they played in the bloody civil war that followed.

Afghan officials say Karzai had long resisted pressure by Washington to create similar units in areas where the insurgency was strongest, but had finally agreed to the idea yesterday.

Top government officials, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), general David Petraeus and the US ambassador to Kabul were present, Karzai's office said in a statement.

The 150,000-strong ISAF force is suffering mounting casualties while taking on the Taliban in their southern heartland, and the United States wants Karzai to take more responsibility for security ahead of a gradual withdrawal starting next year.

Nearly 2,000 foreign service members have died in the Afghan conflict, over 100 last month alone, and scores more Afghan troops, civilians and insurgents.

"The size, salary and the period for which it will be required will be prepared by the interior ministry," said Hamid Elmi, a spokesperson for Karzai. "The Local Police Force (LPF) will be formed in areas where there is insecurity."

Elmi said the government did not plan to provide arms for the force, whose members would rely on their personal weapons. Many Afghans, particularly in rural areas, keep weapons of some sort hidden within reach, a legacy of decades of conflict.

Accountable to the interior ministry, the LPF will be tasked with helping the Afghan National Police (ANP) force with the protection of their respective areas from attacks by the insurgents, he said.

Similar schemes, such as the Community Police Force tried in eastern Nangarhar a few months ago, fizzled out after an unenthusiastic start.

The rapid creation of a national army and police force since the Taliban's ousting and following decades of war has seen tens of thousands of Afghans join the security services, but training, equipment and pay have struggled to keep pace.

An estimated 30,000 Afghans also work for private security contractors, frequently much better trained and paid than those in government service.

Getting local militias to provide local security is not new in counter-insurgency warfare, but their effectiveness in tackling an enemy that lives among them is disputed.

Already stretched thin, Afghan police are tasked with security in some of the most remote parts of the country and as a result frequently the target of Taliban attacks.