KABUL — An Afghan government probe of private security companies has accused 16 firms of violations that include employing too many guards, failing to pay taxes for up to two years and keeping unregistered weapons and armored vehicles.
The allegations, contained in a list being circulated in Kabul, represent the most detail to date about the Afghan government’s case against some of the most prominent American and British security companies in Afghanistan. The Afghan government has moved away from threatening to disband these firms, which it considers “major” violators, and now appears intent on extracting fines from the companies that remain in the country.
Seven other security firms with connections to high-ranking Afghan officials are expected to be ordered this week to disband, Afghan officials said.
The allegations in the list, obtained by The Washington Post, are disputed by company representatives, who view the probe as further evidence of President Hamid Karzai’s push to eventually replace them with government guards.
Since August, Karzai has called for phasing out the thousands of private security guards working in Afghanistan, whom he describes as “thieves by day, terrorists by night.” The firms say their departure could derail foreign- funded development proj ects as well as security they provide to NATO convoys, embassies and military bases.
The probe found, for example, that the British firm G4S — parent company of ArmorGroup North America, which provides security for the U.S. Embassy in Kabul — employed 1,358 guards more than it is allowed to, kept 27 illegal “bulletproof” vehicles and used embassy vehicles for nondiplomatic purposes off base, according to a copy of the violations list. Other, slightly different lists of violations also have been circulating in Kabul.
Half of the companies on the list were accused of failing to pay taxes. Others were cited for failing to pay insurance to the families of slain guards and, in at least one case, of allegedly killing an Afghan civilian.
Details were not provided. But the list of violations said one firm killed an Afghan driver and burned his vehicle. It said another firm killed four people and wounded four others and did not report the casualties as it should have.
A spokesman for G4S, Patrick Toyne-Sewell, said the company has not yet received any official notification from the Afghan government about alleged violations and that “we do not comment on speculation.”
The Afghan government does not plan to order the 16 companies to disband in the near term but rather will levy fines based on the severity of the violations, said Syed Abdul Ghafar Sayidzada, the head of the Interior Ministry’s anti-terrorism department.
