Use of APPF for Security in Afghanistan Limiting Development Firms Operations

Some private firms that do development work for the United States government in Afghanistan are apprehensive of the security that will be provided by the Afghan Public Protection Force or APPF.  The deteriorating situation in Afghanistan has caused a reassessment of whether the development firms can continue their work. Billions of dollars of projects are at risk. At least two companies have decided to finish their current projects and then leave Afghanistan and other firms have slowed down the pace of the projects in order to protect their workers. The aid workers are very critical of the switch from private security firms to the Afghan Public Protection Force. They point out that the Afghan National Police (ANP) is one of the least effective institutions in the country rife with corruption and inefficiency and doubt that the APPF will do any better than the ANP. The Ministry of Interior has control of both organizations. Read more in "Security Fears Lead Groups to Rethink Work in Afghanistan", by Matthew Rosenberg and Graham Bowley, The New York Times, March 10, 2012.