So far it’s all talk

Opinion: May 22, 2012 at 12:00a.m.

By Abdul Latif Sahak

The Institute for War & Peace Reporting

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan

According to residents in this northern provincial capital, a funny thing happened on the way to the highly touted handover of security responsibilities from NATO-led forces to their Afghan counterparts.

Nothing.

As part of a phased transition ahead of the planned withdrawal of most foreign troops from the country by the end of 2014, responsibility for providing security was formally transferred to Afghan forces at a ceremony in Mazar-e Sharif on Jan. 25.

In fact, the transition technically has been completed not only here in Balkh province but in neighboring Samangan and Sar-e Pol provinces as well. The process is also under way in Bamian province, where it is expected to be complete by the middle of next year. Before the handover, security in Balkh province was the responsibility of 500 Swedish and Finnish soldiers who were members of the Provincial Reconstruction Team. American forces were also stationed in the area.

Gradual process

NATO says it always envisioned the transition as a gradual process, with Afghan units slowly assuming an increasingly dominant role in local operations.

Balkh residents, on the other hand, thought the handover meant the NATO units would disappear from sight. Many say they’re angry that this has not happened.

“We were pleased that Afghans had taken over responsibility. That would have resolved our problems, as we share a common language, faith and culture. But we see that nothing has changed,” said Golboddin, a resident of the provincial capital. “The foreigners enter people’s houses whenever they want. They search homes and they stop and search people on the roads.”

Amir Mohammad Weqar, a provincial official, said nothing has changed despite all the talk of transition.

“All processes called ‘transitional’ are symbolic,” he said. “In the past (the foreign forces) said they were performing military duties, and now they say they are engaged in reconstruction, but their goal is the same — to maintain a presence in Afghanistan,” he said.

Even Lt. Col. Joni Lindeman, the commander of the Finnish forces in the region, admits that while the name of the operation has changed from Provincial Reconstruction Team to Transition Support Team, there have been “no major changes” in his unit’s mission.

“We will continue to fulfill the tasks we have been assigned, as we have done until now,” he said.

Provincial governor Atta Mohammad Nur said he had been expecting the NATO troops to roll back their operations more than they have.

“We believed that all the parallel structures created by the foreigners would be eliminated when the security transition process started, but that has not happened yet,” he said.

Not prepared

At the same time, the governor acknowledged that the Afghan military was unprepared to perform all the functions currently performed by NATO forces.

“The Afghan forces have no air or ground defense capacity,” he said. “They have not been equipped, and all the assistance given to them has been futile.”

Even local residents who say they’re looking forward to the departure of foreign forces acknowledged that Afghan forces are not yet up to the task of providing security.

Sahak is a reporter in Afghanistan who writes for The Institute for War & Peace Reporting, a nonprofit organization that trains journalists in areas of conflict. Distributed by MCT Information Services.