Afghans Say Police Not Ready for Security Control

January 31, 2012

VOA News

A public-opinion survey by the United Nations indicates that roughly 80 percent of Afghans believe the country's police force is not ready to take over security control from international forces.

The U.N. Development Program's annual "police perception survey," released Tuesday, finds that only two out of 10 people think the Afghan National Police are strong enough to handle security once foreign combat troops leave Afghanistan in 2014.

NATO forces have been training their local counterparts in anticipation of the coalition's withdrawal, and Afghan forces already have taken control of security in some parts of the country.

The U.N. interviewed 7,000 Afghans for its survey, which also found that a majority of the people believe police corruption is still a major problem.

Separately, NATO said an insurgent attack killed one of its service members Tuesday in southern Afghanistan. The coalition did not give details.

Some information for this report was provided by AP and Reuters.