[3] Formed primarily as a local defence force against Taliban insurgents, its members had no power of arrest and are only authorised to investigate crime if requested to do so by the Afghan National Police (ANP).

The ALP was established at the request of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Summer 2010 and is paid for by the United States.

The ALP has received a mixed press with its members being involved in several green on blue attacks, though it has borne a heavy cost in its fight against the Taliban – suffering casualty rates twice that of the ANP and Afghan Army.

[1] However, as NATO forces withdrew from Afghanistan in June 2021, the acting Minister of the Interior announced plans to arm 30,000 personnel as part of the ALP.

[5] The ALP was established with the backing of US General David Petraeus, but with strong opposition from Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

It was intended to free Afghan security forces from the defensive role and allow them to focus on offensive operations in advance of the withdrawal of foreign military units from Afghanistan.

ALP officers do not have powers of arrest but can detain individuals for a limited amount of time before turning them over to the national police.

[2] The Human Rights Watch has raised concerns that the ALP simply provides arms and training to another militia and has led to abuses of power by its members.

[2] Concerns have also been raised over the power it places in the hands of local village elders, the increased proliferation of weapons, the possible infiltration by Taliban, the financial cost and the reliance on western trainers.

On 30 March 2012 a local policeman poisoned and shot nine of his colleagues in an attack he carried out on behalf of the Taliban in Yayakhil, Paktika Province.

[13] Following a spate of such attacks the US military halted training to the ALP in September 2012 to re-vet new candidates, existing members of the force were not affected by the decision.