Afghan interior ministry clarifies letter criticized for ethnic bias

AVA- In the letter issued by Civil Order Police on Sunday, a Kabul brigade has been instructed to form a 500-member anti-riot unit without inclusion of members of Tajik ethnic group. The letter cited the presidency’s instruction in this regard.
 
“It is instructed that the list of names of officers and brigadiers including from Hazaras, Uzbeks, Pashtuns and other ethnic groups except Tajiks should be prepared and e-mailed within 24 hours,” the letter issued by chief of Civil Order Police, Abdul Fattah Frogh, reads.
 
This is second exchange in Afghan government in recent months that fuels accusations of ethnic bias.
 
The earlier involved a memo from a staff member in Preisident Ghanii’s office, which suggested favouring Ghani’s own Pashtun ethnic group in appointments.
 
“If the policy is as such, the government should also publish ethnic groups’ proportion in the list of deaths. Shame is a very little term for such an embarrassment,” Amrullah Saleh, a former head of Afghan intelligence agency National Directorate of Security, wrote on Facebook.
 
The Interior Ministry, however, issued a statement rejecting discrimination against a particular ethnic group.
 
The statement said that the Tajiks have extensive presence in the structure of Civil Order Police, which it said that should have been mentioned in the letter.