Global Policy Forum

By Nicole Price

International peacekeepers are mobbed by joyful children and invited into mud-walled homes for tea. The only trouble British troops found on a patrol early Tuesday was a woman running away from her husband.

After 23 years of war, foreign soldiers have finally brought peace to this battered capital city. There are few reports of crime, and many patrolling troops call Kabul a safer place by far than London or New York. "When we got here, there was murder, kidnapping, extortion, rape, dead bodies being thrown down wells. There were burglaries all the time," said British Maj. Simon Browne. "Now it's almost nonexistent."

But Afghan police remain underpaid, underequipped and undertrained, and many residents fear for the Afghan capital once the peacekeepers - known as the International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF - pull out. "When ISAF leaves, we will have the same problems as before: fighting and robbery," said Mohammed Fahim, 30, a night watchman at a deserted marketplace. In December, the U.N. Security Council established ISAF to counteract the security vacuum in Kabul after the Taliban fled. Under a British command, the force now has 4,620 soldiers from 19 countries.

In the first months, patrolling troops were fired upon and met with stares and apprehension from civilians. Some girls would cry at the sight of the troops, with their bulletproof vests and S-80 assault rifles. Those days are a distant memory. On a recent patrol, six British soldiers pulled up to a field and were immediately surrounded by cheering children screaming "Hawarryou?" in their best English. The troops took off down a dirt path, and a toddler reached for the hand of Scottish Bombardier Bruce Murray, smiling as he tried to keep up with the soldier's pace. Little girls carrying bunches of wildflowers stopped and waved.

More risky are the patrols at night, especially after the 10 p.m. curfew enforced by local police. But it has been nearly a month since anyone has fired on patrolling peacekeepers. Early Tuesday, six British soldiers walked the darkened paths of west Kabul, where there is no electricity and most of the houses are in ruins from Afghanistan's 1992-96 civil war. Through the green glow of night-vision monoculars, the collapsing mud walls provided an eerie setting under the brilliant starry sky.

But during a 15-kilometer (10-mile) patrol along dirt roads and through sleeping apartment blocks, the only moments of tension came at police checkpoints, where Afghan officers let out bloodcurdling screams of "Dresh!" - "Stop!" - and waved Kalashnikov rifles from soldier to soldier before lowering their weapons and offering handshakes and smiles. The patrol's leader, Lt. Mark Duppa-Miller, used his interpreter to question three Afghan policemen passing by, asking if there was any criminal activity in the area.

"We caught a criminal, but another one got away," detective Yahya Khan reported intently. Asked what the crime was, he said a woman had run away from her husband and taken refuge in the house of a female friend. They had arrested the friend, he said, but the wife fled.

"We're still trying to catch her," he said, adding: "Sometimes when a woman runs away from her husband, maybe she wants to marry somebody else." The peacekeepers questioned anybody out on the streets, but there were few. One man walked down the darkened street, his sleeping daughter draped over his shoulder.

"Are you a terrorist?" Duppa-Miller asked. The man laughed and said everything was quiet. Then, in a traditional Afghan farewell, he asked, "Would you like a cup of tea?" "Yeah, might as well," Duppa-Miller said, and the troops followed the surprised Afghan through a wooden door, plopping down on the cushions beside his sleeping nephews. They sipped sweet green tea and discussed soccer. "You make a very nice brew," said Pvt. Darren Cross. The tea stops are good public relations, the soldiers said, helping them persuade the local community that they are not the enemy.

"Five days ago we walked past a wedding and they invited us in," Duppa-Miller said. "We had a fantastic feast." Peacekeepers and ordinary Afghans worry, however, about what will happen when the foreigners leave. Most crime in Kabul is committed by Afghan policemen or soldiers, many of whom still are not paid and need to steal to survive. "When ISAF leaves, a lot of problems will come to this area," said Said Nazim, who owns a small video arcade. "People won't be safe. Property won't be safe." Although most now have uniforms, Afghan police have few radios and cars, and little training in keeping the peace.

"It's going to be a slow process. You're not going to have a police force like in the U.S. or the U.K. overnight," said Maj. Karen Daly, an ISAF spokeswoman. Turkey has agreed to take over command of the peacekeeping force, probably in June, and the United Nations is widely expected to extend their mandate beyond that date. Afghan officials are receptive, and have even asked for similar operations in other Afghan cities, although that is unlikely because of U.S. opposition.

Most peacekeepers say they expect to be here for a long time, but few are complaining. Many say their job in Afghanistan is the most satisfying they've had.

"You do the Balkans. You do Northern Ireland. But here you see the changes month by month," Duppa-Miller said. "I think ISAF will be here until the new government can provide security. If not, everything we've done here is wasted."

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