PAKTIKA PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Carefully draped men gather in the dimly lit hallways of the district center in Zarghun Shahr district in Paktika province, June 15.
This day marks the first shura for the new District Sub Governor (DSG), Hajji Naeem. Recently appointed as the new Zarghun Shahr DSG, his political selection sparked a revival for security and development throughout the area.
A new courtroom is at the top of the list. Civil, administrative and criminal cases will all be tried within the walls of the new facility. The new structure is the first of its kind for the surrounding 12 districts of western Paktika province and comes just in time as the new leader emerges to further change and increase security throughout the region.
“The focus of my job is to bring additional functionality to the district,” said Naeem. “I’d like to fill the tashkiels and provide additional Afghan Local Police (ALP) to the villages for increased security.”
ALP security has proven itself essential in maintaining the safety of villages throughout Afghanistan.
The program, which begins at the shura level and extends through the Ministry of Interior (MoI), began in the summer of 2010 as an initiative by Afghan President Hamid Karzai in the interest of serving as an intermediate solution to insurgency in isolated areas.
This bottom up approach has contributed to stabilizing rural areas that have served as insurgent safe havens, transition points, and command and control hubs for projecting violence into larger areas.
“A lot of elders have spoken to me about the ALP program,” said Naeem. “Once they see the security improvement in other villages, they also want ALP.”
As of April 2012, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GIRoA) has approved 99 districts for an ALP program with more than 68 districts already validated at the local level.
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