VZCZCXRO6162
OO RUEHIK
DE RUEHBUL #0229/01 0240924
ZNR UUUUU ZZH
O 240924Z JAN 10
FM AMEMBASSY KABUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 4940
RUCNAFG/AFGHANISTAN COLLECTIVE
RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE 0019

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 03 KABUL 000229 
 
SENSITIVE 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR SCA/FO, S/SRAP, AND EEB/BTA 
DEPT PASS USTR 
DEPT PASS DHS 
 
E.O. 12958 N/A 
TAGS: PBTS EAID ETRD PREL EFIN EAIR AF
SUBJECT: BORDER ACTIVITY UPDATE: CUSTOMS, BORDER STRUCTURES, AND 
TRAINING 
 
REF: Kabul 101 
 
KABUL 00000229  001.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶1. (SBU) SUMMARY: Effective control of its borders is critical to 
Afghanistan's security and economic prosperity. The Embassy's Border 
Management Task Force (BMTF) plays a significant role in building 
Afghan capacity to manage its borders, creating institutions for 
coordinating border plans; harmonizing international projects; and 
putting bricks and mortar on the ground at strategic border 
crossings.  Among its major achievements of the past six months are: 
 
 
a) Establishment, together with other donors, of the Afghan National 
Customs Academy. 
 
b) Improvements and mentors at major border crossing points. 
 
c) Maintenance of and training in the use of scanning and sensing 
equipment at the Kabul and Kandahar Airports and numerous border 
crossings. 
 
d) Provision of trainers and mentors near Shebregan, Spin Boldak, 
Jalalabad, and Herat to support the Border Police and larger U.S. 
mission in Afghanistan. 
 
END SUMMARY. 
 
¶2. (SBU) Better control of Afghanistan's borders is critical to 
stabilization of Afghanistan's security and to long-term economic 
sustainability.  The constant flow of narcotics, weapons, and 
undocumented people undermine the efforts of the coalition to cut 
off material support to insurgents.  Ramshackle facilities and 
untrained officials hinder licit commerce and result in lost customs 
duties and fees - the primary source of GIRoA tax revenue.  The lack 
of effective modern border management procedures and transparency, 
moreover, fosters an environment for corruption. 
 
¶3. (SBU) BMTF, led by DHS Customs and Border Patrol officials, is 
focused on assisting the GIRoA to improve its border management 
capabilities to improve processing of licit movements of goods and 
people, to interdict illicit movements, and to improve revenue 
collection. It advises Afghan border officials (customs officials 
and border police) both on policy and operations.  BMTF supports a 
robust mentor program at two border crossings, Islam Qalah on the 
Iranian border and Torkham Gate on the Pakistan border; and it 
intends to expand the program, increasing the number of mentors at 
Torkham and Islam Qalah and putting new mentors at Weesh Chaman this 
year. (NOTE: Mentor operations at Islam Qalah were temporarily 
suspended, and all Islam Qalah mentors were deployed at Torkham Gate 
because of ISAF traffic through there. They will return to Islam 
Qalah soon END NOTE).  BMTF played a lead role in September 2009 in 
creating the Border Issues Working Group (BIWG) to bring together 
U.S. Embassy, ISAF, GIRoA and other donors involved in customs, 
immigration, and other border issues to ensure that all coordinate. 
It is also active with GIRoA customs officials and other donors in 
the Informal Customs Network in coordinating donor assistance 
specifically focused on support of customs capacity building and 
operations. 
 
¶4. (SBU) The BMTF and Department of Homeland security (DHS) are on 
track to add a DHS attach and additional mentors in Balkh, Herat, 
and Nangahar Province.  The tactical work of BMTF compliments 
parallel policy discussions in the Afghanistan-Pakistan Transit 
Trade Agreement (APTTA) talks and the Dubai Process, and 
improvements in border management will contribute to trade 
facilitation once the APTTA is agreed.  Successful border operations 
will be a key to fast tracking supplies for NATO forces; generating 
customs revenue for GIRoA; and stemming the flow of narcotics and 
weapons. 
 
 
------------------------------- 
Afghan National Customs Academy 
------------------------------- 
 
¶5. (SBU) U.S Coordinating Director for Economic and Development 
Affairs Ambassador E. Anthony Wayne and Canadian Ambassador William 
Crosbie joined Minister of Finance H.E. Dr. Omar Zakhilwal January 
19 to open the Afghan National Customs Academy (ANCA), Afghanistan's 
first central customs training institution.  The ANCA will train 150 
to 200 recruits over the course of 12 months on customs practices. 
At the same time, four Afghan trainers will participate in a 
train-the-trainer program so that Afghans can train Afghans to 
ensure that the ANCA will remain operational and sustainable over 
the long term. 
 
 
KABUL 00000229  002.2 OF 003 
 
 
¶6. (SBU) The Academy grew out of the Canada-led Dubai Process, a 
confidence building forum for Pakistan and Afghanistan designed to 
bring together officials from both countries at an informal, working 
level (reftel). The coordination and implementation of the academy 
was worked through the Informal Customs Network. The U.S. and Canada 
will fund and staff the first three years of instruction.  The USG 
is providing $2.5 million of funding annually, which will include 
operational support for the Academy, the dean of the Academy, five 
trainers, and curriculum development.  This is in addition to the 
approximately $2 million which the United States contributed to the 
construction and renovation to the training facilities.  Canada has 
developed tailored training materials that will be used in the 
academy's curriculum and has also provided a deputy dean and a 
senior trainer who will work with recruits and officials. 
 
¶7. (SBU) During this period, the Academy will share the facilities 
of the Afghan Counternarcotics Training Academy.  The European 
Community has already committed to fund a new facility designed 
specifically for the Customs Academy.  The BMTF, in conjunction with 
the Army Corps of Engineers' Afghan Engineering Division, have the 
ground knowledge and capabilities to make it a natural agent to 
design and build the Academy. 
 
-------------------------------------- 
Improvements at Border Crossing Points 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶8. (SBU) The BMTF is targeting capacity and material development for 
Afghanistan's major borders.  The Kandahar-Weesh-Chaman-Quetta link 
is an essential corridor for supplying ISAF activities in the south 
and for facilitating a commercial and trade corridor.  Current plans 
call for ground breaking on $20 million worth of facility upgrades 
and training to increase security and expedite the movement of goods 
and people by August 2010.  BMTF has already worked with GIRoA to 
identify a 100 square kilometer site, and President Karzai is 
expected to sign the decree soon transferring the land to the 
Ministry of Finance so that building can begin this summer.  The 
Government of Canada will support the GIRoA to help prepare the site 
by compensating and transplanting the current residents and 
improving some of the extant public buildings there.  Warehouse and 
barracks facilities at the Islam Qalah facility, in the west, should 
be completed by March 2010.  BMTF is also managing improvements at 
the Kabul Inland Customs Depot.  Upgrades include two new warehouses 
and the refurbishment of six others.  Work should be completed by 
January 2010. 
 
¶9. (SBU) The busy Torkham border crossing which links Kabul and 
Jalalabad to Peshawar is a testing ground for developing model 
border operations.  Border activities should increase revenue and 
prevent contraband smuggling.  BMTF is adding mentors for Afghan 
border officials on the border, and ISAF is providing the life and 
logistical support for the BMTF mentors.  The cooperation between 
the civilian BMTF and the military and relationships between the 
border mentors and the Afghans are charting new territory and 
showing the way for successful approaches at other strategic 
borders. 
 
---------------------------------- 
Monitoring Authorized Entry Points 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶10. (SBU) BMTF is managing maintenance for and training in the use 
of scanning and sensing equipment at the Kabul and Kandahar Airports 
and at numerous border crossings.  Afghans are successfully using 
basic scanner equipment.  Lack of Afghan capacity to use and 
maintain equipment, however, limits the value of deploying more 
advanced technology.  Some technology, such as a sophisticated truck 
scanner installed at Sher Khan Bandir (bordering Tajikistan), 
requires up to $350,000 for operation and maintenance.  These types 
of scanners are difficult to adapt for use in the austere Afghan 
environment and have low potential for sustainability. 
 
¶11. (SBU) The Kabul International Airport has been the scene of a 
patchwork of different international donor-funded activities.  The 
BMTF is helping to build coherence through coordinated operations 
such as the recently executed bulk cash smuggling operation 
highlighted by Minister of Finance Zakhilwal and written-up by 
international media.  The operation brought together five different 
agencies and project implementers in an investigation that revealed 
$10 million in cash leaves Afghanistan daily.  A new Airport 
Technical Working Group is making strides to bring all Afghan 
officials and international donors/mentors at the airport into one 
forum to coordinate operations better. 
 
--------------------------------- 
 
KABUL 00000229  003.2 OF 003 
 
 
Training the Afghan Border Police 
--------------------------------- 
 
¶12. (SBU) The Afghan Border Police (ABP) has responsibility to 
provide immigration and visa services, protect customs facilities, 
and prevent the entrance of unauthorized goods and persons at 
Afghanistan's 14 approved border crossing points.  The ABP's 
jurisdiction includes all territory 50 km inland from Afghanistan's 
international borders.  Previous Afghan National Security Forces 
training plans placed ABP near the bottom of the ANP training 
priority.  As a result, the BMTF and CENTCOM developed a parallel 
complimentary training program to develop the ABP focusing on its 
distinctive functions. 
 
¶13. (SBU) Four training and mentoring programs are in place near 
Shebregan (north), Spin Boldak (south), Jalalabad (east), and Herat 
(west).  The current GIRoA ABP staffing pattern calls for a 17,870 
person force.  Recent estimates show a shortfall of nearly 5,000 
officers, non-commissioned officers and patrolmen. The new training 
centers are capable of training nearly 9,000 ABP a year for a basic 
six-week course.  Problems with logistics, transportation, and 
attrition, however, will prevent the training pace from meeting the 
training need in a linear progression.  Mentoring teams are at 
Paktia, Paktika, Khost, Helmand, and Nangahar Provinces.  The short 
course provides basics in firearms, small unit tactics, vehicle 
management, law enforcement, and specialty weapons.  The training 
centers will formally fall under the Combined Security Transition 
Command -Afghanistan (CSTC-A)/NATO Training Mission - Afghanistan 
(NTM-A) in September 2010. 
 
¶14. (SBU) COMMENT: While we have made considerable progress both in 
improving Afghan capabilities in border management and ensuring 
regular coordination between donors and with the GIRoA, Afghanistan 
is starting from a very low threshold, and its needs remain great on 
all borders.  One challenge we must begin to face is that as we help 
Afghanistan improve infrastructure and procedures on its side of the 
border, we will have to encourage Afghan officials to coordinate and 
communicate better with bordering countries, and in particular, 
Pakistan, to ensure a smooth, uninterrupted flow of licit goods and 
people. 
 
EIKENBERRY