Military Review English Edition March-April 2015 | Page 123

VILLAGE STABILITY OPERATIONS

(Photo by Spc. Wes Conroy, 55th Signal Company Combat Camera)

An Afghan Local Police (ALP) commander congratulates 12 new ALP members during a graduation ceremony 27 March 2012 in Kalach
Village, Chora District, Uruzgan Province, Afghanistan. The members finished a three-week course that covered basic policing procedures, weapons handling, and other skills necessary to protect and defend Afghan citizens. The graduation of this ALP Academy class was
the first in Kalach Village.

district governor of Chora. In the summer of 2008, he
was accidentally killed by coalition forces in a nighttime operation. His death destabilized the Barakzai
tribe, a tribe with much influence in Chora. His son,
Mohammed Daoud Khan, assumed his leadership mantle and continued as the district chief of Chora and head
of his family until his removal from office by GIRoA
in late 2010. The assassination of Daoud Khan in late
2011, in part retaliation for the assassination of Populazi
tribal leader and former governor Jan Mohammed Khan
in Kabul in late summer 2011, further weakened the
Barakzai tribe’s leadership. It was widely thought within
the Populzai tribe that Mohammed Daoud Khan was to
blame for the killing of Jan Mohammed Khan although
this was never proven.
Rozi Khan’s next youngest son, Khoshal, assumed
the leadership of the Barakzai tribe, but since he and his
older brother were only in their early to mid-twenties,
their tribal position was contested by other Barakzai
elders seeking to improve their tribal, political, and social
situation. The Achikzai tribal leader, who had originally been district governor of Chora in 2001-2002, had
subsequently been elected as one of the province’s representatives to Afghanistan’s parliament. As a political
opponent of then governor Jan Mohammed Khan, his
election to Parliament in 2005 came as bit of a surprise,
and his alliance with Rozi Khan acted as an effective
MILITARY REVIEW  March-April 2015

check on any predatory tendencies of the Populzaidominated provincial government. It also ensured that
their respective tribal members had strong representation in tribal and government affairs.
His subsequent defeat in 2010, in part orchestrated
through an election process that fell short of international standards of transparency, prompted him to depart
the province and reside in Kabul. His new residence
protected him from any local assassination attempts
organized by his trib