KABUL – A new* Afghan territorial army will soon be mobilized to helpmaintain security in insecure areas across the country. *
Establishing a territorial army was first suggested by the Pentagon. Theplan is for local residents in insecure areas to be included in this forcein order to increase security.
The MoD said on Sunday that President Ashraf Ghani has given orders for theforce to be mobilized.
According to the defense ministry, 5,000 soldiers have been recruited inthe first phase of establishing the force. These soldiers are currentlybeing trained, the MoD said.
The first group has been recruited from Herat, Kandahar, Laghman and Kapisaprovinces.
“In Laghman, Kapisa and Kandahar, 75 percent of the work has been donewhile in Herat 100 percent has been done. Recruiting soldiers for theterritorial army is continuing,” MoD spokesman Mohmmad Radmanish said.
According to the defense ministry, the territorial army soldiers will berecruited on a provincial level and they will be residents in the areas.They will wear an Afghan National Army (ANA) uniform, will receive up to 70percent of an ANA soldiers’ salary and will be between 20 and 40 yearsold.
This new force is similar to the Afghan Local Police, which was establishedin 2010 and falls under the interior ministry.
A number of parliament members however said the formation of theterritorial army was a good idea, but some had concerns over the managementof the force.
“In provinces the territorial army is needed and will have good results.Because they are familiar with the area and can work very well,” MP FaridaHamidi said.
“In some provinces the territorial army will have good results while insome others it may create more problems,” MP Abdul Hai Akhundzada said.
With the formation of the new force, the total number of Afghan NationalSecurity Forces (ANSF) will increase to 390,000 officers, officials said.
The territorial army will be comprised of former soldiers from the defenseministry, but they will be led by active commanders in the military.
The main mission of the army is to maintain security of roads andgovernment departments in insecure areas.
The number of territorial army soldiers will eventually total 36,000.