Sada-e Azadi

It is close to eight o’clock in the morning. The Colonel leaves his office and steps outside the police building, finding his men standing in line to await his daily instructions. He looks deep in the eyes of his men and raises his voice, “Comrades, we have to feel responsible for the people and their security along the highway.”

The Zero One Unit Riot Police recently moved from Mazar-e Sharif to the Kunduz-Baghlan region to become responsible for the Baghlan-Kunduz highway. Since taking over this mission, the unit established over 25 new police checkpoints along the highway. Meanwhile the men managed to build up good relations with the local population, elders and provincial council members.”

Asked about this success, Colonel Sayeed Agha, the Commander of the Zero One Unit Riot Police for northern Afghanistan, explains to Sada-e Azadi: “We have achieved a lot, but there is still a long way ahead. We have to work hard on ourselves and have to fulfill our duty authoritative. But we always try to be polite to everyone!”
 
The Colonel, who is serving Afghanistan for more than 20 years now, points out, that during operations conducted against enemies of peace in this area there have been many successes to report about. Since being in charge, his police unit, in cooperation with ANA and ISAF troops and the great support of the local population, detained over 20 insurgents who used to disturb the security situation in this area. Furthermore a huge amount of weapons, ammunition and several motorbikes of the enemies had been seized.

An important reason for this success is the motivation of the policemen and their improved skills. All of them participated in an intense military training course organized and led by national and international trainers. But of course, these are only the first steps and there is still a long way to go.

Ghulam Mohammad is one of the policemen of this unit. He never turned his back on the enemies and always used to fight the challenges he faced. He tells Sada-e Azadi: “I am very proud to be a member of the Zero One Section and will do my best to fight for the security of my people. I want that all families can live their life without fear because they know that we are ready to sacrifice our lives for them.” Pride and motivation are very important but most important seems to be the fact, that the policemen and their commanders are aware that the support of the elders and people of the area is the key to success.