WIREDGOV

Everyday the police of Musa Qaleh lead combined patrols with British soldiers through the Bazaar and out to the remote Patrol Bases manned by their colleagues in the desert and the Green Zone.

Relying on their local knowledge of the area, their relationship with the community and their keen sense to notice what is abnormal, they play a key role in the patrols. While British soldiers patrolling with them carry equipment to detect Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) the Afghan National Police (ANP) can often give an indication of potential sites so that the British troops can set to work confirming the deadly presence of an IED.

But this is not all the ANP do. Now in an atmosphere of growing stability in Musa Qaleh the ANP are able to adapt to more conventional policing skills.

Under the watchful eyes of Royal Military Police Corporal Natasha Richards (30) from Eastbourne and Captain Damian Coxon (24) from Folkstone ten ANP policeman begin a course to teach them the techniques of searching for evidence and preserving it to ensure prosecution.

The ten, selected for this training by Commander Koka their Chief of Police, represent the top 5 per cent of the Musa Qaleh force. They start the day with classroom lessons followed by practical training in the dusty courtyard outside, searching a compound marked on the ground by white tape.

Captain Coxon says, “Two months ago 142 members of the ANP here in Musa Qal’eh were sent away to do The Focused District Development course. On this course they were drugs tested, had discipline instilled into them and were trained in infantry tactics over a six week period. We’ve had immense success in this particular field but up until now there’s been very little police orientated training.’ He continues, ‘So the aim of the next weeks training is to take ten of them and teach them how to be policemen. Today they have been carrying out this training, and have covered evidence handling and how to search a compound for evidence, what to do once they’ve found it and searching the people inside, and furthermore how to speak and liaise with the people in the compound to make the police seem less of a threat, but more as a group of people who are working to secure the area for the local nationals.”

Nematullah, a policeman for 4 years says, “This training that has been given to us is really useful. The British army is really helping us, trying to train us in how to behave with people and bring improvements to Musa Qal’eh.”

Ziaullaq, in the force for 6 years and standing guard at the entrance to the courtyard said, “People are really happy to see us patrolling on the streets, and the other thing is that people are really likely to talk with us about Taliban. They really want us to be here because we provide their security.”

And training is the name of the game throughout the ranks in the ANP in Musa Qaleh. Police Sergeant Chris Smith from the MoD Police is helping train the police but has the added responsibility of mentoring Commander Koka. He said ‘Mainly we’ve had to mentor Commander Koka’s decisions to give him options that he might not have considered himself. There have been several occasions where we have had to point him in the right direction and to make sure that he has maintained some transparency in his dealings with the public in order to raise the profile of the ANP and so the public can see they are being served fairly.

It is clear in Musa Qaleh that recent improvements in security have been aided significantly by the ANP. Led by a robust Commander, now the 176, and soon to be 200, police of the town are helping to lead Musa Qaleh into safer and more secure times.

Contacts:

Ministry of Defence
NDS.MOD@coi.gsi.gov.uk