Kabul residents fear increasing lawlessness
K ABUL: In central Kabul last month, two men stabbed a teenager and left him for dead before escaping on a motorcycle — a brazen attack amid a rising tide of killings and kidnappings as warscarred residents complain of increasing lawlessness.
The brutal mugging happened near the green zone, home to many of the Afghan capital’s foreign diplomats, but numerous armed guards posted along the street did not try to help the victim, thanks to arcane local liability laws and restrictions.
The attackers fled after snatching the boy’s mobile phone and camera. He survived, but it took about an hour for authorities to arrive and take him to hospital.
Officials and stressed-out residents say crime is surging in Kabul, where police are already pushed to their limits attempting to prevent insurgent attacks by the Taliban and other groups, including the Islamic State.
Jan Aqa Naweed, spokesman for Afghanistan’s chamber of commerce, said crime had grown so bad that businesspeople and entrepreneurs were fleeing the country for fear they could be targeted.
“The increase in the crime rate, the killing and kidnapping of businessmen — this has forced many traders to leave the country.
“Some of them take their families and money to countries such as Turkey and Uzbekistan. The crime in the city has negatively affected investment.”
Authorities have started to take note. On Saturday, the interior ministry sacked Mohammad Salim Almas, head of Kabul’s Criminal Investigation Department, because of what officials called a “dramatic increase” in crime.
The rise is hard to quantify. The Interior Ministry this month said it had recorded 100,000 crimes over a five-year period, but did not provide a breakdown.
Abdul Khaliq Zazai Watandost, a member of Kabul’s provincial council who helps monitor crime rates, said criminals had killed 70 people here and its surrounding areas in the past two months, with dozens more locals kidnapped.
“Crime has become a bigger problem than terrorism for Kabul residents. Terrorism is a big phenomenon, but at least we should be able to control the crime.”
Deputy Interior Minister General Khoshal Sadat acknowledged the psychological toll crime is taking.
“It is threatening the physical and mental security of people in the city,” Sadat said.