Assessment of U.S. Government and Coalition Efforts to Develop the Afghan Local Police

Established by President Karzai under the Afghan MoI in August 2010, the Afghan Local Police ALP program is a complementary component of the Village Stability Operations VSO program. A primary goal of VSOALP is to enhance security, governance, and development, and link local villages to the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan GIRoA via the districts and provinces. The ALP program was designed to provide protection and stability in villagesareas where the Afghan National Security Forces ANSF were insufficiently strong to prevent armed insurgent infiltration and activities. The ALP initiative is considered by the Coalition as a cornerstone of a successful COIN strategy. The MoI had approved 99 districts for ALP units as of April 2012. Of these, 59 districts had completed the required MoI validation process, which includes approval by both village eldersshura and Coalition partners, for a force of 12,900 ALP. The Coalition Forces Special Operations Component Command-Afghanistan CFSOCC-A, International Security Assistance Force ISAF Joint Command IJC, and NATO Training Mission-AfghanistanCombined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan NTM-ACSTC-A, in coordination with the Ministry of Interior MoI and Afghan National Police ANP, have committed to the development of an ALP force. This entails significant shared responsibilities and capabilities on the part of the Coalition forces. CFSOCC-A is the Executive Agent responsible for planning and execution of the ALP program. IJC is responsible for coordination with CFSOCC-A and general support of the program and the ALP units operating in IJC battle space. NTM-ACSTC-A has the responsibility for managing the use of U.S.C. Title 10 fiscal resources for equipping the ALP, and for building the capacity of the MoI in support of the ANP and ALP. ISAF has the overarching responsibility to plan, direct, and integrate the contributions of these three commands in support of ALP development.