U.S Embassy Kabul - security contractor fired

The U.S State Department has fired a contractor hired to provide security at the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, Afghanistan, less than six months after the company won the $274 million job.

The department ended its agreement for embassy security with EOD Technology of Lenoir City, Tenn., because the company was not going to be able to start work on May 1, as the contract required, the State Department said Thursday in a statement.

ArmorGroup North America will continue to guard the embassy for at least the next four months until a replacement for EOD Technology is found.

The State Department said in 2009 that it would not renew its contract with ArmorGroup after its guards were caught engaging in lewd behavior and drinking excessively at their living quarters.

NATO airstrike kills four Afghan security guards

Kabul - A NATO airstrike killed four guards working for a private security company in southern Afghan province of Helmand, officials said Wednesday 2nd March.

One more guard was injured in the strike in Gerishk district on Tuesday, said Mohammad Hakim Andar, provincial police chief. The men were providing security for a road construction firm in the region, he said.

Major Michael Johnson, spokesman for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), said a joint investigation with Afghan officials was underway into incident.

The military engaged a group of suspected militants in the area after an ISAF ground patrol was attacked, Johnson said.

'Following the engagement we heard allegations that four security guards were killed,' he said.
'Friendly fire' casualties are not rare in southern Afghanistan. where the militants often operate in the vicinity of local forces.

Taliban are still most active in Helmand and neighbouring Kandahar, despite a reduction in their presence after major operations by NATO forces in the region last year.

Source: Deutsche Presse-Agentur

Canada's hired guns in Afghanistan

OTTAWA - Canada spent more than $41 million on hired guns in Afghanistan over four years, much of it going to security companies slammed by the U.S. Senate for having warlords on the payroll.

Both the Defence and Foreign Affairs departments have employed 11 security contractors in Kabul and Kandahar since 2006, but have kept quiet about the details.

Now documents tabled in Parliament at the request of the New Democrats provide the first comprehensive picture of the use of private contractors, which have been accused of adding to the chaos in Afghanistan.

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