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Kabul shuts down foreign security firms
Kabul has closed security firms that were illegally working in Afghanistan, calling them a threat to the security conditions in the country.

Some of the security firms that worked without a legal permit were forced to close, Ali-Shah Paktiaval, a Kabul police official said on Monday, BBC Persian reported. The official said some members of the firms, mostly foreigners, were arrested for further investigation adding that the Afghan government believes they have been involved in insurgent attacks and kidnappings across the country.

Paktiaval refused to disclose the number of the firms or the detainees.

Most of the firms operating in Afghanistan are American institutions and their staff carry machine guns and grenades. Last year, Kabul government declared that no security firm was allowed to work in Afghanistan and that only army and police forces were allowed to carry weapons.

Currently, dozens of security firms are active in Kabul and other Afghan cities and most of them are foreign institutions.

Posted by: Fred 2008-12-16
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=257349