The Afghan government has begun disbanding private security firms in the country, closing eight companies - including some run by foreign contractors - dpa quoted officials as saying Sunday. The move is part of President Hamid Karzai's efforts to rein in the work of those private security firms that he says have undermined the authority of Afghan army and police forces. "The process of disbanding eight private security companies and the seizure of their weapons and equipment has been completed successfully," Waheed Omar, Karzai's chief spokesman, said during a press conference. Foreign security firms were also among those dissolved, he said. They include Xe Services, a controversial United States-based private security company previously known as Blackwater Worldwide. Blackwater was expelled from Iraq after its guards were accused of killing 14 civilians in the capital Baghdad in 2007. The company has also trained Afghan security forces in the past. Zamarai Bashary, a spokesman for the Interior Ministry, said more than 440 weapons, including rocket-propelled grenade launchers and heavily artillery, were seized from the eight disbanded firms. Karzai had called on all private security companies, including international contractors, to cease operations in the country until the end of this year through a decree issued in August. The disbandment is seen as a difficult goal to achieve at a time when the Taliban-led insurgency has shown no sign of abating despite the presence of 150,000 US and NATO forces in the country. Security has significantly deteriorated even across the previously peaceful northern and central regions of the country in recent months. The move nevertheless raised concerns among the international community's representatives in Afghanistan as tens of thousands of private contractors provide security for embassies, NATO convoys and their military bases, non-governmental organisations and investors. The United States government alone employs more than 25,000 private security personnel, with most of them guarding military bases around the country and escorting military supplies. Omar said Sunday that his government's focus is only on the contractors who provide security on the highways and escort military convoys, as those who guard embassies and international organisations are exempted from the rule. Kabul estimates that some 40,000 people are employed by the 52 security firms that have been authorised by the Interior Ministry. Afghan and NATO officials have said that a large number of unlicensed firms are also operating in the country. Afghan officials allege that some of the private security firms are involved in organised crime, including kidnappings and armed robberies. They are also accused of opening fire on civilians on highways and killing innocent Afghans. In August, President Karzai personally blamed some of them for being a cause of misery in his country. "They abuse the rights of the people. They threaten the security and, God knows, they steal during the day and turn into terrorists during the night," he said. But Western officials have said that Afghanistan's fledgling army and police are not yet ready to take up roles now played by private security contractors, and expressed concern that their dismantlement could create a security gap. They have said that private contractors should be phased out only as the security situation improves.
