Afghan War News > Security in Afghanistan

Information on Afghan Security Forces

United States Agency for International Development (USAID).  Democracy and governance projects.

Afghanistan Government.  Institute for the Study of War.

Representative Governance.  Afghanistan Research and Evaluation Unit (AREU).

Government Ministries, Agencies, and Departments.  The Afghanistan Analyst.

Afghan Ministry of Defense. By WikipediA.

Afghan National Army.  By WikipediA.

Publications and Reports on
Afghan National Security Forces

June 2011.  Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).  Background paper for media by ISAF.

May 10, 2011.  "No Time to Lose".  Promoting the accountability of the Afghan National Security Forces.  Joint Briefing Paper. Oxfam.

April 2011.  "Report on Progress Toward Security and Stability in Afghanistan".  Department of Defense.

March 15, 2011.  Statement of Gen Petraeus Before Senate Armed Services Committee. General Petraeus.

March 2011.  "Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict".  United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan.

Afghan War News Security Links (Internal)

Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF).  A police organization created by the Karzai regime to replace the many private security companies working in Afghanistan.

Village Stability Operations (VSO).  An effort to establish security, governance, and development at the village and community level utilizing SOF teams and "enablers".

Afghan Local Police (ALP).  A program of the Ministry of Interior that is mentored and supported by the CJSOTF-A.

Afghan National Army Special Forces (ANASF).  This highly-trained and secretive unit is advised, trained, and mentored by U.S. Army Special Forces detachments.

Afghan National Army Commandos. There are nine Afghan Commando Kandaks in the ANA.

Afghan Border Police or ABP.  A 14,000 man organization that is part of the Afghan National Police (ANP).

Critical Infrastructure Program (CIP). A local security program established by Regional Command North to provide security to "critical infrastructure" with small units of locally hired Afghan security guards.

Interim Security Critical Infrastructure (ISCI).  A program headed up by the Marines in the south of Afghanistan that pays for local security guards to protect critical infrastructure using CERP funds.

Local Defense Initiative (LDI).  A program to establish local self-defense forces to resist against Taliban influence and pressure.

Community Defense Initiative (CDI).  An effort to support anti-Taliban militia that were homegrown in local communities.

Afghan Public Protection Program (APPP).  Sometimes referred to as AP3.

Afghan National Auxiliary Police (ANAP). This program started in 2006 and was closed down in 2008 as a failed endeavor.

Afghan Guard Force (AGF).  This 2004 era paramilitary force did not last long and was discontinued due to pressure from the international community and senior U.S. military officers to roll all militia and paramilitary groups into the Afghan Security Forces.

Afghan National Army (ANA).  The current-day ANA was established in late 2002.  As of February 2012 it has over 176,000 personnel.

Community Based Security Solutions (CBSS).  An effort by the ISAF Joint Command (IJC) to standardized the various local security forces supervised and paid for by the different regional commands.