This Tuesday 17 August, Afghan President Karzai signed an order to disband all private security companies (PSC) in his country by the end of the year.

According to the Afghan government, these companies undermine the work of the national security forces and contractors should be incorporated into the Afghan police. An estimated 52 PSCs are registered with the government, which represents 24,000 armed men. Nevertheless several companies did not register and in reality the contingent of contractors in Afghanistan is of around 40,000 men, from which 26,000 work with the U.S forces. Their main missions consist of protecting NATO convoys and securing international and national institutions like ministries or embassies.

But as in Iraq, PSCs have a very bad reputation in Afghanistan. Besides the fact that a lot of contractors are not well trained to accomplish their missions, the majority of the local population does not trust them anymore. They have been involved in several incidents with civilians and some of them are accused of corruption, assassinations and drug use. However the Afghan security forces are still far to be capable of meeting all security needs. In addition, the US army withdrawal, which should begin in 2011, makes the end of PSCs work in Afghanistan next year even more unrealistic. If President Karzai decision is well-founded, its quick implementation could have harmful consequences. An Afghan contractor earns twice as much as a policeman. So the risk that former contractors offset the financial lost by using their guns for corrupted purposes is high. Some of them also could join the Taliban to express their opposition to the government decision.