Law enforcement in Afghanistan is one of three major components of the nation's

criminal justice Criminal justice is the delivery of justice to those who have been accused of committing crimes. The criminal justice system is a series of government agencies and institutions. Goals include the rehabilitation of offenders, preventing othe ...

system, along with courts and

corrections In criminal justice, particularly in North America, correction, corrections, and correctional, are umbrella terms describing a variety of functions typically carried out by government agencies, and involving the punishment, treatment, and s ...

. The General Directorate of Intelligence (GDI) is the

intelligence agency An intelligence agency is a government agency responsible for the collection, analysis, and exploitation of information in support of law enforcement, national security, military, public safety, and foreign policy objectives. Means of informati ...

of the government of

Afghanistan Afghanistan, officially the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan,; prs, امارت اسلامی افغانستان is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central Asia and South Asia. Referred to as the Heart of Asia, it is bordere ...

. The

Afghan National Police The Afghan National Police (ANP; ps, د افغانستان ملي پولیس; prs, پلیس ملی افغانستان), is the national police force of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, serving as a single law enforcement agency all across th ...

, which includes the

Afghan Border Police The Afghan Border Force (ABF) was responsible for security of Afghanistan's border area with neighboring countries extending up to into the interior and formed part of the Afghan National Army. In December 2017, most of the Afghan Border Police ...

and the Afghan National Civil Order Police, was the

police force The police are a Law enforcement organization, constituted body of Law enforcement officer, persons empowered by a State (polity), state, with the aim to law enforcement, enforce the law, to ensure the safety, health and possessions of citize ...

of Afghanistan with

jurisdiction Jurisdiction (from Latin 'law' + 'declaration') is the legal term for the legal authority granted to a legal entity to enact justice. In federations like the United States, areas of jurisdiction apply to local, state, and federal levels. Jur ...

that covers the entire 34 provinces of the country during the Islamic Republic period. The Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan currently relies on the Islamic Emirate Army to handle border protection and public order issues. The Afghan Border Police (ABP) was responsible for securing and maintaining the nation's borders with neighboring states as well as all international airports within the country. The mission of the Afghan National Civil Order Police (ANCOP) was to provide civil order presence patrols, prevent violent public incidents, and provide crisis and anti-terror response in urban and metropolitan environments. Like the ABP, ANCOP was also under the control of the Afghan National Police (ANP), which was under the nation's

Ministry of the Interior An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

. ANCOP was divided into five Brigades, each commanded by a Brigadier General. These brigades were stationed in

Kabul Kabul (; ps, , ; , ) is the capital and largest city of Afghanistan. Located in the eastern half of the country, it is also a municipality, forming part of the Kabul Province; it is administratively divided into 22 municipal districts. Acc ...

Paktia Paktia (Pashto/Dari: – ''Paktyā'') is one of the 34 provinces of Afghanistan, located in the east of the country. Forming part of the larger Loya Paktia region, Paktia Province is divided into 15 districts and has a population of roughly 6 ...

Kandahar Kandahar (; Kandahār, , Qandahār) is a city in Afghanistan, located in the south of the country on the Arghandab River, at an elevation of . It is Afghanistan's second largest city after Kabul, with a population of about 614,118. It is the c ...

Herat Herāt (; Persian: ) is an oasis city and the third-largest city of Afghanistan. In 2020, it had an estimated population of 574,276, and serves as the capital of Herat Province, situated south of the Paropamisus Mountains (''Selseleh-ye Safē ...

, and

Mazar-i-Sharif , official_name = , settlement_type = City , image_skyline = , pushpin_map = Afghanistan#Bactria#West Asia , pushpin_label = Mazar-i-Sharif , pushpin ...

. All law enforcement agencies of the

Islamic Republic of Afghanistan The Islamic Republic of Afghanistan was a presidential republic that ruled Afghanistan from 2004 to 2021. The state was established to replace the Afghan interim (2001–2002) and transitional (2002–2004) administrations, which were formed ...

were set up and trained by the

North Atlantic Treaty Organization The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO, ; french: Organisation du traité de l'Atlantique nord, ), also called the North Atlantic Alliance, is an intergovernmental military alliance between 30 member states – 28 European and two Nor ...

(NATO) states, initially by Germany (see Sedra 2017) but then mainly by the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territo ...

. In 2003 the mandate of the

International Security Assistance Force ' ps, کمک او همکاري ' , allies = Afghanistan , opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda , commander1 = , commander1_label = Commander , commander2 = , commander2_label = , commander3 = , command ...

(ISAF), under the command of NATO, was extended and expanded beyond the

Kabul Province Kabul ( Persian: ), situated in the east of the country, is one of the thirty-four provinces of Afghanistan. The capital of the province is Kabul city, which is also Afghanistan's capital and largest city. The population of the Kabul Province is ...

. In some areas unoccupied by ISAF forces, local militias maintained control though being partially disarmed under programs started by the

United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs The UN Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA) (french: Bureau des affaires du désarmement) is an Office of the United Nations Secretariat established in January 1998 as the Department for Disarmament Affairs, part of United Nations Secretary-Gen ...

. In 2007 the

Department of Defense Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippi ...

(DOD) began supervising most police development, in conjunction with the

U.S. Department of State The United States Department of State (DOS), or State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs of other na ...

, as well as smaller allies partners. This includes supervising recruiting, training, and operations. DOD components, primarily from the

National Guard National Guard is the name used by a wide variety of current and historical uniformed organizations in different countries. The original National Guard was formed during the French Revolution around a cadre of defectors from the French Guards. N ...

, as well as other branches, began mentoring the Afghan police commanders at every level of command. This police mentoring initiative was headquartered in Camp Phoenix as part of Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix (CJTF Phoenix, also known as Task Force Phoenix). As of May 2011, the Afghan National Police had 126,000 members while the NDS had between 15,000 and 30,000 employees.

Historical secret police organizations

* Khedamat-e Etelea'at-e Dawlati (KHAD) *

National Directorate of Security prs, ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی , nativename_r = , seal = National Directorate of Security Logo.png , seal_width = , seal_caption = Seal of the National Directorate of Security , formed = , precedin ...

(NDS)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Law Enforcement In Afghanistan

Historical secret police organizations

See also

References