KHAS KUNAR, Afghanistan — U.S. and Pakistani troops recently planned a pincer movement to catch insurgents crossing the border from Pakistan into this troubled corner of northeastern Afghanistan. The U.S. would block the narrow mountain passes while the Pakistani army attacked militant positions on the other side of the border.
The operation failed. The reason, according to the Americans: Their partners in the Afghan Border Police had informed the insurgents, allowing them to slip away.
“Every time we tried it, there was a leak,” says Lt. Ryan Keogh, a company commander who helped to plan and execute the operations. “If we can’t rely on the Afghans in this fight, then we are going to be here for a long time.”
Counting on Afghanistan’s security forces to help stabilize the nation is seen as vital if the international force is to turn around a deteriorating security situation.
There are signs the Afghan army is becoming equipped for that task. But U.S. officials say the Afghan police force remains widely corrupt and largely ineffective.
Abdul Hayat Rafi, chief of staff in the Afghan Border Police, denies that any of his men have links to insurgents, but says there may be corruption among the country’s police forces.
A North Atlantic Treaty Organization official in Brussels said Wednesday that NATO is planning to bring more experts to Afghanistan to train the police force. “The police have always lagged behind the army,” said the official. “We have a shortage of trainers, which we hope to fix now.”
Officials also plan to increase the number of mentors who will live with and advise police units in the field. The approach has led to some successes with the Afghan army, the NATO official said.
The police-training initiative, which is set to receive more than $1 billion in funding next year, largely from the U.S., will be headed by an American three-star general and will start in the coming weeks.
The U.S. and its allies have already spent millions of dollars to create the Afghan Border Police, making it the best-funded component of the Afghan security forces. Of Afghanistan’s police force of about 80,000, there are nearly 12,000 border police, and there are plans to expand the force to nearly 18,000.
This year, the U.S. began working with the border police in an intensive training initiative similar to one used elsewhere in the country. In some cases, military trainers live alongside newly trained police for a number of months as mentors.
But many of the border police still haven’t been trained, and some units that have been trained are still compromised because of corruption and ties to local insurgents, U.S. military officials say.
Here in Kunar province, soldiers from the 10th Mountain Division, have been policing the porous 150-mile border, often in partnership with the ABP.
The ABP, however, “is often part of the problem,” said Lt. Gabriel Lamois, a platoon commander. Lt. Lamois said members of the border police have a hand in the illegal timber and gem trades, which fund the insurgency and local warlords, and they often have ties with the insurgents, who control some areas where smuggling occurs.
Border Police commanders say their chief problem is a lack of resources. Low pay can drive police to use their positions to pursue other sources of income.
Afghanistan’s police forces are drawn from the communities in which they serve. This may make it difficult to create a force that is independent of local concerns. “The police have connections with all sides in the community,” says Habibullah Rafeh, a policy analyst at the Kabul Academy of Sciences. “In situations where an area is contested by the Taliban and the Americans, they don’t know who is going to come out on top so they maintain ties with both sides.”
They also lack the protective equipment of the Americans and are often outgunned by the Taliban. “The Americans can call in air support when they are in trouble,” said Mr. Rafi. “We don’t always have that luxury, so we can’t take as many risks.”
More than 2,000 Afghan police have been killed this year across the country, a toll far higher than that of the Afghan army or the U.S. and NATO forces.
Yet in this border region, while insurgents frequently attack the Afghan army and U.S. troops, the border police are rarely bothered — as long as they stay near their posts.
The result is that it is often difficult for the Americans to persuade the Border Police to go to the border. Recently, Lt. Lamois met with his border police counterpart in a spartan, rock-strewn police outpost six miles from the border. It was a quiet, sunny day, and Lt. Lamois had stopped by to ask the Border Police commander to conduct patrols.
“What can I do to help you cut down on the people crossing over the border?” Lt. Lamois asked.
“Well, the people cross the border at night, and we can’t leave our compound at night — it’s too dangerous,” replied Capt. Karim, who goes by one name and commands about 80 Border Police here.
Later in the same discussion, Lt. Lamois asked Capt. Karim what he would do if he had all the resources he needed.
“I would bomb Pakistan,” he replied.
“Well, I don’t think we can do that,” Lt. Lamois said. “What about patrolling the border?”
Capt. Karim thought for a moment. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “It’s too dangerous.”
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