| | Afghan police at work in flip-flops and high on opium AFP
03/28/2007
By Sylvie Briand
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MAIWAND - Colourful ribbons tied to their Kalashnikovs and opium flowers decorating a van, police in flip-flops meet with Canadian soldiers about a new anti-Taliban operation in southern Afghanistan.
The Canadians, part of a NATO-led force, had been on time for the rendezvous with the district police chief at a highway checkpost in Kanadahar province's Maiwand, known as a through route for Taliban and drugs traffickers.
Three scruffy policemen were on duty, lounging on wooden beds and watching the cars pass. "The boss is not here. He is in Kandahar. Didn't you know?" said one, Abdul Wassi, with a smile.
He was wearing a long traditional shirt because his uniform "is being washed."
Wassi put in a call to the deputy of the district, named Gulali.
The "commander" arrived in a whirl a few minutes later at the wheel of a van with opium flowers attached to the bumpers at the front and three teenagers on the back, green, blue and yellow ribbons attached to their guns.
"They have just come back from an operation to pull up opium poppy," Wassi explained.
Canadian officer Alex Ruff, nearly twice the size of Gulali, told the deputy the evening's operation was to disturb Taliban expected to move through the area to flee offensives in neighbouring Helmand province, further west.
"We are going to reinforce this post and I need all your men," he said to Gulali, whose eyes were lowered.
"We do not have enough vehicles," the Afghan replied, still not looking at the Canadian. "Do what you can," was the reply.
There are about 250 policemen in Maiwand, a Taliban stronghold. Among them are "auxiliary policemen" who are recruited by tribal chiefs and receive a gun and a uniform after two weeks' training.
The Canadians do not really expect this small post to do much to stop the Taliban. "Two or three guys in a hut, armed with rifles, could not do much if they were attacked. They could not even stop a vehicle," said one soldier.
Wassi said he searches two or three vehicles a night and about 10 in the day.
"I am not afraid even though the Taliban captured and decapitated four policemen from this post a few months back," he said.
Night fell and Canadian armoured vehicles discreetly took positions around the post, ready to intervene should anything happen.
"There will be no clashes. The Taliban know you are here," one Afghan policeman said.
In the meantime, about 20 policemen had blocked the road for a few hours, "high after smoking opium and searching everything that moves," a Canadian soldier said.
There was no incident apart from some trucks turning back after seeing the roadblock.
Ruff, the Canadian officer, said he does not have much confidence in the police in a district where the governor himself is suspected of being involved in the trafficking of opium, of which Afghanistan is the world's top producer.
"With the army, there is no problem but the police are something else," he said, adding: "Far too many policemen smoke opium."
"It is possible that some police are collaborating with the Taliban. Some of the guys have not been paid for a year."
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