Sunday, December 4
AFGHANIS BURY 2 COPS LOST TO THE SCUZBALLS
Vow to never give in.
JALALABAD, Afghanistan — The lives of two slain members of the Afghan National Police were celebrated in a memorial ceremony in Jalalabad Nov. 7. Gen. Gul Agha Shirzai, the Nangarhar Province governor, honored the bravery of the men and vowed that violence will not deter the efforts of the ANP to bring lasting peace and security to Afghanistan . Capt. Shair Ahmad, the security assistant in-charge for the ANP’s Jalalabad Regional Training Center , and Maj. Dad Mohammad, an ANP basic course instructor, were killed in an Oct. 25 ambush while transporting policemen to the RTC. Their attackers fled the scene and remain at large. “This will not stop us,” Shirzai said to a round of applause from those gathered. “We will never be slaves (to criminals).” More than 225 fellow officers, friends and family, as well as representatives from the international community, attended the service at the governor’s palace in Nangarhar. Shirzai spoke of the bravery of policemen on duty every day, striving to make the Afghan people more secure. “We are lions and tigers,” he said, “and the people who attacked are cowards. They should come out and fight.” The governor presented gold medals to the eldest sons of the victims, and Gen. Ali Khan Ahmadzai, ANP senior training official, presented each a condolence check for 50,000 Afghani — more than each officer’s annual salary — to help support their families. The RTC in Jalalabad is the central training facility for new policemen in Nangarhar Province . Although all instructors and students at the facility are Afghan, U.S. contractors from DynCorp International serve as mentors to assist instructors in various areas of police training. Ron Guyton, the DynCorp regional commander, announced on behalf of the RTC that a set of two barracks buildings would be named after each of the men. “In the future as young police officers come through the new academy that is being built, they will not forget the sacrifice and leadership of these brave men,” he said. Ray Fitzgerald, director of the Office of Security Cooperation–Afghanistan’s Police Reform Directorate, also spoke at the ceremony. “These men performed their duty and gave their lives so that all Afghans might feel safer and more secure in their homes with their families,” he said. Weblog LINK |
