Afghanistan Times
Related Articles
As insecurity has been deteriorating across the country, the responsibility of maintaining security and law and order don’t remain only confined to the ministry of interior and the ministry of defense. There is yet another ministry as well whose role could be countable given that it is not spineless. The Ministry of Borders and Tribal Affairs said Saturday that it will hold jirgas (consultative sessions) with tribal elders in a number of provinces to explore how security could be improved. Enlisting tribal elders support is an effective strategy, however, the government must ensure that who is trust worthy as many of the influential people living in areas along the Durand Line usually benefit from both sides—Afghanistan and Pakistan. This is only limited to a few individuals as tribesmen in Afghanistan have always defended the country. Gulab Mangal, the Minister for Borders and Tribal Affairs said the ministry will work on three to four key issues. They include liaison with tribal elders to augment relations with them, border protection, and issues related to the Durand Line. The good news is that it is not too late to get back to basics and revamp an impregnable defense strategy. The ministry should be supported by intelligence service, defense ministry and as well as interior ministry as a joint mechanism is a must to stop infiltration and get the support of tribal elders. Moreover, border police need a powerful and well organized institution, as this force still remains incompletely trained and unseasoned. As the US and international coalition troops have already started withdrawing, and the money Washington has pledged for the Afghan National Security Forces including the Afghan National Police runs out in 2017, the government must do something substantial about border protection as it must not remain porous because this porous-ness has turned too deadliest for the people of Afghanistan. Given the terrain of Afghanistan, the geography and structure of its borders, and Islamist movements outside its borders, Kabul requires a well-trained and well-equipped border police force. However, unfortunately, our national economy is a war-bubble and we are witnessing it is gradually deflating.
Moreover, enlisting support of tribal elders is likely to face down opposition from international donors and Afghans who have already concerns over beseeching warlords for military assistance to keep border security intact. Besides that in the past, anti-corruption, security, and education programs were kicked off, but they didn’t yield any positive results except proving to be programs for providing opportunities to those at the center of the schemes to eat away more and more. This time, if any ministry allocates funds for certain programs, it must be decided from the very beginning that what the government will do in case the program doesn’t yield the desired results? This is particularly important now while looking at the situation because the troops and their dollars departure have already started showing signs and if corruption is not reigned in, no one will save the country from a national economic disaster.
