Western forces target the Taliban, but for many Afghans the biggest threat comes from criminals and complicitous police
by Mark Sappenfield and Anand Gopal
KABUL, AFGHANISTAN - Hajji Habib Lal is a successful businessman in the southern Afghan city of Kandahar, importing fine ceramic plates from Germany and France. He also owns an AK-47 assault rifle.
Mr. Lal’s son has already been kidnapped once – returned after 13 days for a $20,000 ransom. But Lal still gets death threats by phone, and a few days ago, thieves tried to break into his house. Only a few randomly fired shots from the AK-47 stopped them.
For the Afghans whose hearts and minds America and its allies are trying to win, the greatest enemy in many cases is not the Taliban, but criminals and the police who are often seen as being complicitous with them.
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Residents of the western city of Herat say ‘Enough’ to the rise of criminal activity
Kabul, Afghanistan - When a criminal gang abducted a prominent doctor’s 12-year-old son last week off the streets of Herat, residents of the western Afghan city decided they had had enough.
Doctors, nurses, and other health providers walked out on their jobs to protest what they say are the government’s half-hearted attempts to address a growing security problem. Shopkeepers, judges, and the city’s main trade union soon joined them, prompting the closure of close to 250 factories.
The strike, which ended earlier this week, highlights widespread dissatisfaction with government efforts to provide security and illustrates the extent to which criminal gangs – not the Taliban – are seen as the biggest security threat in Afghanistan’s major cities.
“We are scared to go outside because we never know when it will be for the last time,” says Herat resident Ahmad Qurishi. Read the rest of this entry »
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