Balkh residents welcome search campaign but unhappy about absence of policewomen

While Balkh residents have welcomed house-to-house searches for illegal weapons, some have raised concerns about the lack of policewomen involved in the operations.

This comes after security institutions in the province launched a 10-day house-to-house search campaign three days ago.

Despite mixed reaction from the public, many residents have said security will improve once weapons have been confiscated.

“We have no problem with this house-to-house effort. We are satisfied with the Islamic Emirate that they have conducted house-to-house searches,” said Ahmad, a resident of Balkh Province.

But others are unhappy about the absence of policewomen, saying male members of households are not always home.

“Women should be with them when they go door-to-door. Second, their time should be clear; those who are employed, their women are alone at home, women should be with them [the police], women should be searched by women and men should be searched by men,” said Rabi, another resident of Balkh province.

Activists in Balkh have said house-to-house searches should be based on law so as to prevent any harassment by police.

But the Balkh police say that the campaign has been launched at the request of the people and that the security forces will not violate people’s rights during the search operation.

“At the request of the people of Mazar-e-Sharif, the security forces decided to form a commission to conduct house-to-house searches in Mazar-e-Sharif through three security agencies,” said Asif Waziri, the spokesman of the Balkh Province Police Command.

The governor of Balkh, however, asks political opponents of the Islamic Emirate to return to the country.

“NATO and the US on its side, ISAF, were not able to make the mercenary system (republic government) strong or resist or defend themselves against the limited number of Mujahideen,” said Qudratullah Abu Hamza, the governor of Balkh.