ISAF, Kabul police differ on security switch

KABUL): Contradicting the International Security Assistance Force’s view that the security switch has already taken place in the Afghan capital, Kabul police said on Monday the transfer was yet to be formalised.

Earlier in the day, Dominic Medley, a spokesman for NATO, told a news conference that the security transfer to Afghan forces in the capital had taken place three years ago.

He added that the first phase of the process, involving the transfer of security for seven cities and provinces to Afghan forces, had been completed. President Hamid Karzai announced on March 22 that the project is to be completed across the country by 2014.

A joint ISAF-Afghan committee, which has been tasked with monitoring the project, will identify areas for the next phase of the transition, according to Medley.

But Col. Mohammad Zahir, crime branch chief of the 101st Asmayee Zone, told Pajhwok Afghan News that only preparations had been made for the transition in Kabul. “We held a meeting with senior officials on the issue today and decided to take formal security control tomorrow.”

He acknowledged that Afghan forces, supported and equipped by NATO-led troops, had been de facto in charge of Kabul’s security over the past two years. Around 14,000 policemen in the capital needed only technical support from ISAF, he said.

At the media briefing, ISAF spokesman Carsten Jacobson said the multinational force would continue to play a supporting role in areas where security had transitioned to Afghans.

mbg/mud/kg