Unlike in other countries where criminals are largely in hiding and are individuals who are difficult to identify and arrest, the criminal networks operating in Afghanistan, particularly in Kabul, are not as unknown as the security agencies cannot detect and track them down. A few months back, the Ministry of Interior released a list of criminals which demonstrated that the government knows most of the criminal gangs committing crimes in Kabul city, but never actually dares to clamp down on them.
The main problem in preventing or reducing crimes in Kabul is not the complexity of the criminal networks, but the indecisiveness of security institutions in hunting the criminals. The security agencies still do not dare to turn up the heat on criminals for various reasons, and even if they accept the risk and arrest criminals, the accused will not face the music because they will be able to flee prosecution due to rampant corruption in the country’s legal and judicial organizations, something that further emboldens the criminal networks, and weakens rule of law.
The security agencies, especially the Ministry of Interior, have recently taken some commendable steps in cracking down on the criminals, and the killing of a leader of a criminal network in Kabul on Saturday is just an example. The government’s recent stringent behavior towards criminals is a positive development which must be sustained.
The main reason for the indecisiveness of security organs towards criminal networks is lack of enough support at the government leadership for countering crimes, and existence of patronage networks within the government that back the criminals. Sometimes, some leading political figures are interfering in the cases of those accused of crimes, and even those combatting criminals not only face with various threats as a result, but also don’t get appropriate backing from the government in such circumstances despite jeopardizing their own lives. Given this problem, the support of government leadership for individuals and agencies fighting criminals is essential. If security personnel and institutions are assured that their actions against criminal networks will not only be commended and rewarded but also will have support from the government leadership if needed, the security situation across major cities, including Kabul, will begin to improve dramatically.