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Shah Joy Villagers Ready to Make a Stand

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Nathanael Callon
  • Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul
SHAH JOY, Afghanistan --  Fifty men answered the call to protect their village against insurgents in Shah Joy District, Zabul province, Sept 16.

The men have volunteered to participate in a program that trains and arms villagers, called Arbakai, or the commerce stability program. The villagers will partner with Afghan National Security Forces to safeguard the bazaar by operating security checkpoints at each entrance.

During a ceremony held at Forward Operating Base Varner, Shah Joy District Chief Abdul Qayum addressed the men, thanking them for taking the first step towards helping to stabilize the community.

"As you embark on your new roles, remember that you will serve your people and your country with honor and dignity," Qayum said.

Provincial Reconstruction Team Zabul worked with district officials and Mohammed Ullah, the commander of Arbakai in Shah Joy, to start the project.

"This is the first of its kind here in Zabul Province," said U.S. Army Capt. Maxwell Pappas, Shah Joy's district support leader for the PRT. "Understanding your surroundings is vital to counterinsurgency, and these men know their district better than anyone."

Some of Ullah's men have fought as part of the mujahedeen against the Soviet Union in the 1980s and against the Taliban in the 1990s.

Mohammed Ullah seemed confident that his men can do the job.

"They are very capable and they are willing to lay down their life for the safety of their families," Ullah said, who himself was a member of the mujahedeen.

When the Taliban gained power in Kabul in 1996, many of the mujahedeen were forced to lay down their arms or to flee to northern provinces of Afghanistan to fight in the Northern Alliance under the command of ousted Defense Minister Ahmad Shah Massoud. This shift in power left southern provinces like Zabul vulnerable to negative insurgent influence.

"These men are dedicated to their families and tribes. They came to me, willing to fight against the opposition again," Ullah said about some of his veteran fighters.

The members of the Shah Joy Arbakai have a unique and powerful advantage that many of the Afghan National Security Forces lack.

"I am from Shah Joy; I know the people of Shah Joy; I know the needs of Shah Joy and my men are all the same," Ullah said. "This is our home."

Arbakai was traditionally used as a community security force that answered to tribal elders alone. In Shah Joy, the Arbakai is responsible to the Interior Ministry. Though the structure is different, the concept is the same.

When a person comes to Ullah to join Arbakai, two or three elders must come and account for the man's character before he can become a member.

"My men would serve in the ANSF, but they have a higher responsibility to themselves, their families and their tribes," Ullah said. "It would take them from Shah Joy."

Arbakai enables these men to serve and defend their own villages and district. Each man goes through two months of training in order to receive a weapon and a red arm band, which denotes the men as members of Arbakai.

"The Afghan National Police and Afghan National Army come from all over Afghanistan. This is not their home, so they cannot know it inside and out," Ullah said.

Ullah hopes that more men will join the cause. After the local elders see that the bazaar is more secure, they will be more willing to stand up against the insurgency, Ullah added.

"We already have plans for another five checkpoints in Khajer Khel, a few kilometers from the bazaar area," Ullah said. "When they see that we are capable to protect the people, we will be able to expand our operations to every village."