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