ALP to end Kajaki security nightmare: residents

LASHKARGAH (PAN-backed Afghan Local Police (ALP) force to the insurgency-prone town in southern Helmand province.

The call came amid an ongoing search operation aimed at driving insurgents from parts of Kajaki since last week. security officials claim several villages were cleared of the rebels.

Residents believed if LPF members were deputed to keep security for areas cleansed of insurgents, the move could ensure a lasting peace.

Tribal elder Malik Abdul Salam said residents had asked the governor and the provincial police chief to establish security check posts in sensitive localities.

The elder said they were ready to send their sons for recruitment into the local police force and also into national police and army.

Salam continued residents lost everything they had — from life to wealth — to the years-old unrest that had left many innocent people dead and several families migrated.

“We have long been deprived of basic facilities of life and we survive on a hand-to-mouth income that come from any odd job that we could find,” the tribal elder said, lamenting they had been ignored by the provincial government on the one hand and being teased by the insurgents on the other.

The rebels forced residents into offering them meal at night and in some cases money, alleged Salam, who believed residents could get rid of the nightmare once the local police force was deployed.

Another resident Abdullah described the ongoing security operation against the Taliban as useless, insisting the militants continued to carry out their operations at night.

Police Chief Brig. Gen. Abdul Nabi Ilham told Pajhwok Afghan News that efforts were in place to fulfill the demand of Kajaki dwellers.

So far 10 insurgents have been killed in the Kajaki operation that involved ISAF and Afghan security personnel, according to Ilham, who claimed the joint troops remained unhurt.

A large number of bomb-making factories were destroyed and 350 mines defused during the offensive, the police chief said.

Governor Haji Mohammad Naeem Baloch said he had met elders from areas in Kajaki where the military operation was underway.

He said residents were released arms to protect themselves from any possible insurgent attack, while reconstruction projects for Kajaki had already been approved.

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