Afghanistan Plans Departure of Security Firms

New York Times ^ | March 16th 2011 | Ray Rivera

[Cardhu]

KABUL, Afghanistan — The Afghan government is planning to phase out most private security companies and replace them with its own forces over the next 12 months, according to Afghan and international officials.

The timeline appears to end months of turmoil over how quickly the companies would be pushed out, and it should clear the way for projects that had been delayed by security concerns to resume development.

The plan allows foreign embassies and organizations with diplomatic missions to continue using private security companies at their discretion. Other entities, including the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force and the United States Agency for International Development, could continue to contract with the companies over the next 12 months.

At the end of that period, the Afghan Public Protection Force and the Ministry of Defense would take responsibility for securing NATO supply convoys and protecting international development projects, according to details of the plan released late Tuesday

Whether 12 months is long enough to meet that goal is an open question, said Stan Soloway, president of the Professional Services Council, a group that represents companies doing business with the American government around the world, including Afghanistan. “But at least this now gives us some time to work toward that goal without some arbitrary, short-term deadline,” he said.

...[snip]

In another area that has raised tensions with the Afghan government, Gen. David H. Petraeus, the commander of American and allied forces in Afghanistan, ordered an investigation on Wednesday into a NATO airstrike that killed two children in Kunar Province on Monday. Local officials said the children — two brothers, ages 11 and 17 — were watering their family’s field when a helicopter fired on them.

[Cardhu]

...on Wednesday, 12 oil tankers carrying fuel for NATO bases were destroyed in a fiery blast after a motorcycle loaded with explosives detonated while it was parked next to them in Tarin-Kot, the capital of Oruzgan Province, local officials said.