INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightSTR/AFP/Getty ImagesImage caption
Staff at Wazir Akbar Khan hospital treated the wounded
The Taliban has said it carried out an attack in Afghanistan on the base of the British security firm G4S
A British man was among five employees killed when gunmen stormed their compound.G4S, one of the world's largest security groups, helps
guard the area around the British embassy in Kabul.The US-led invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 contributed to a boom in the private security
In recent years, the presence of contractors has decreased, mirroring the withdrawal of foreign troops
However, insecurity in Afghanistan remains widespread, there are still thousands of Nato troops and the demand for armed security at foreign
embassies, military bases, and for NGOs is still high
So how many private security firms are operating in AfghanistanThe Afghan interior ministry says the government-run Afghan Public Protection
Force (APPF) carries out most of the security tasks in Afghanistan today
Responsibilities include escorts for foreign troops and other security services for NGO, diplomatic or business clients.The body was created
by a presidential decree in 2010 that banned all private security companies after a series of scandals
Up to that point a large number of foreign private security contractors had overseen most of the security jobs
Image copyrightAFPImage caption
The Afghan Public Protection Force (APPF) was given the task of taking over security
roles in Afghanistan
What does a private security company doAccording to a UN working group, a private security company does
the following work:Armed guarding or protection of buildings, installations, property and peopleKnowledge transfer with security and
policing applicationsDevelopment and implementation of security measuresHowever, the international community in Afghanistan pushed back on
the ban and raised concerns about the fitness of the new government security plan
Foreign diplomatic sites, international organisations with diplomatic status and military bases were able to retain their own firms
The exemption also applied to companies involved in police training missions
Foreign security firms were also allowed to re-register as a risk management company
This allowed many companies to keep a footing in the security business, wrote Fabrizio Foschini in 2014 for the Afghanistan Analysts
Network.A private security company could be hired to vet, train and manage the guards employed by the Afghan government
So there is still a presence of foreign security companies working in Afghanistan today
G4S, for example, says they have about 1,200 members of staff in Afghanistan and have been in the country since 2003
Half of the workforce is Afghan and the other half is made up of foreign nationals, including Brits
Aside from providing security at the British embassy, the company has other private security contracts for NGO and corporate clients
The company trains and employs security guards and is involved in the training and mentoring of Afghan national forces
Non-disclosureIt's very difficult to get exact numbers for the private security industry operating in Afghanistan, says Sorcha MacLeod
from the UN Working Group on the use of mercenaries, which also looks at private security companies
Information is difficult to access because client governments can withhold it on national security grounds
It's also because of the complex nature of the industry - there are parent companies, sub-contractors and joint ventures working
there.There have been calls for a bigger role for private companies in the Afghan war
Erik Prince, the founder of Blackwater, a private security firm, believes contractors are key to ending the long-running war
He wants to pay "proven veterans" who have served in Afghanistan and use them in combat
Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai called the proposal a "blatant violation of Afghanistan's national sovereignty".Image:WATCH:
Ex-Blackwater CEO's plan to end Afghan warThe numbers have certainly decreased since the significant withdrawal of US and Nato troops in
In 2012, for example, there were more than 100,000 contractors - armed and unarmed - employed by the US Department of Defense
That included more than 20,000 private security contractors.The number of private security contractors went below 1,000 at the end of 2016,
but has slightly increased since then.In October 2018 there were almost 2,500 armed private security contractors in Afghanistan, according
to the US Department of Defense
Most are third country nationals - that is neither American nor Afghans
However, armed contractors are always only a small subset of contractors in Afghanistan, says Ulrich Petersohn, associate professor in
international politics at the University of Liverpool
The bulk of the contractors are unarmed and provide maintenance or logistics
All contracting companies had to make their own security arrangements, which, in turn, at the height of the military presence increased the
overall number of security firms
Out of the 25,000 total US defence contractors in Afghanistan now, about 10,000 are American citizens
Aside from security services, which account for 16% of the contracting jobs, roles include logistics, translation, base support,
construction and transportation
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