4 new police buildings open in Balkh

MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): German Ambassador to Afghanistan Martin Jager on Thursday joined Afghan officials at a ceremony marking the inauguration of four newly-constructed buildings for border police personnel in northern Balkh province.

Constructed near the Mazar-i-Sharif Airport with German assistance, the buildings were handed over to the border police during the ceremony also attended by senior Interior Ministry officials.

Speaking on the occasion, Jager said construction of the buildings by Germany was no end to Berlin-Kabul cooperation, saying his country would continue supporting Afghanistan beyond this year.

He said Germany was committed to assisting, training Afghan forces and constructing new buildings for them after 2014.

The structures for border police cost $5.2 million and took eight months to complete, the German ambassador said.

Interior Ministry official Gen. Bawar told reporters Germany had been assisting diverse Afghan sectors since 2002, with the bulk of aid going to Afghan forces.

He said the affairs of Afghan forces in the northern zone had improved due to trainings they received from German counterparts.

About the new single-storey buildings, Gen. Bawar said the structures had the capacity to accommodate 400 personnel.

Each building has an office room, a training centre, dining hall, accommodation rooms and other facilities, he said, hoping the buildings would help resolve accommodation problem for the police to a great extent.

A statement issued from the German Embassy in Kabul said Germany spent 80 million euros each year on training Afghan forces, constructing buildings for them and paying them salaries.

Berlin has promised providing 150 million euros for the same purpose after 2015, the statement said.

Having the capacity of accommodating 1800 personnel, Germany has constructed police training centres in Mazar-i-Sharif, Kunduz City and Faizabad. So far 40,000 Afghan security forces have received training from German mentors.

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