Walking tall in Afghanistan

Capt Nick Arakgi
Joint Task Force Afghanistan

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan - If Zharey District in Kandahar Province is the Wild West of Afghanistan — and it often looks like it — then the men of the Afghan Uniformed Police (AUP) are the often outnumbered and outgunned, and always under-appreciated, frontier lawmen. In the thick of it with them are the Canadian soldiers and military police of the Police Operational Mentor and Liaison Team (POMLT). The POMLT is there to help the AUP build capacity and capabilities so it can overcome the increasingly sophisticated tactics of the Taliban insurgency. The POMLT combines the aggressive combat training and experience of infantry soldiers, most of them from the 1st Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, in Petawawa, Ont., with the policing skills of members of 2 Military Police Unit, also in Petawawa.

During seven months of intense pre-deployment training, the infantry soldiers and the military police — not particularly used to working with each other back home in garrison —formed a tight-knit team. Now, more than half-way through their tour, it is often difficult to tell the MPs and the Royals apart when they are patrolling together. The POMLT in Zharey District also benefits from the presence of civilian constables from several Canadian police agencies. Three of the infantry soldiers are Army Reservists who, in their civilian capacity, are Peel Regional Police constables based in Mississauga and Brampton, Ontario.

A constable from the Durham Regional Police and a Royal Canadian Mounted Police corporal, members of the civilian police (CIVPOL) contingent of the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team, also patrol regularly with the POMLT. The CIVPOL members contribute a civilian perspective that is very important when dealing with the AUP, and provide a crucial link to the Kandahar Provincial Reconstruction Team resources at Camp Nathan Smith in Kandahar City, 30 km east of the Zharey POMLT’s beat.

POMLT members live with AUP detachments throughout Zharey District, sharing the risks and austere conditions with their Afghan police counterparts. If the conflict in Afghanistan has a front line, this is it. Regular foot patrols of the surrounding villages and countryside are interspersed with classroom instruction on police topics such as Afghan law, community policing, and the correct techniques for searching people, vehicles and compounds. Foot patrols are as close as Afghan police get to walking the beat. Patrolling is done to encourage AUP members to talk to people, and to engage village elders and other leaders to address important issues ranging from local crime to development and reconstruction projects.

To meet the challenges of policing in the midst of insurgency, joint POMLT-AUP patrols are well armed and prepared to fight if necessary, although their purpose is to demonstrate a police presence. As police patrols increase in frequency and AUP equipment and training improve, the POMLT mentors and their Afghan colleagues are gradually stabilizing the areas surrounding police detachments in Zharey District.

As confidence in the legitimate Afghan government grows, people come to police detachments to report crimes and insurgent activity. This increased confidence and participation by the population in their own security are helping the Afghan National Army and the International Security Assistance Force disrupt Taliban operations in Zharey District. Zharey District may be the Wild West, but Canadians can rest assured that their soldiers and police are making a significant difference with the local lawmen, the Afghan Uniformed Police.