Khost Protection Force

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) was a CIA-backed Afghan paramilitary unit, formally designated as the Afghan Ministry of Defense's 25th Division, established in the early 2000s to conduct covert counter-insurgency operations against Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked militants in Khost Province and adjacent eastern border regions with Pakistan.^[1]^[2] Comprising up to 3,500 fighters at its peak, the KPF specialized in kill-or-capture raids, intelligence-driven strikes, and border interdiction, earning a reputation for operational effectiveness in disrupting insurgent networks where conventional Afghan National Army units struggled due to infiltration and morale issues.^[3]^[4] The force's origins trace to post-2001 U.S. special operations efforts, evolving from ad hoc militias into a structured CIA proxy that integrated local tribal elements for deniability and local knowledge, enabling rapid response to high-value targets amid the limitations of broader coalition forces.^[1]^[2] Its defining achievements included neutralizing numerous insurgent commanders and safe houses, contributing to relative security in Khost compared to more volatile provinces, though this success relied on unchecked autonomy that fostered command loyalty to CIA handlers over Afghan government oversight.^[4]^[3] However, the KPF's tactics drew persistent allegations of human rights violations, including extrajudicial killings, abusive night raids, and civilian casualties during operations that blurred lines between combatants and non-combatants, with reports documenting summary executions and forced disappearances that eroded local support and fueled insurgent recruitment.^[5]^[2] These controversies highlighted tensions between tactical gains and strategic costs, as the unit's impunity—stemming from CIA control—undermined accountability mechanisms and Afghan state legitimacy, a pattern critiqued in analyses of U.S. proxy warfare despite the force's role in sustaining counter-terrorism amid drawdowns.^[4]^[1] By 2020-2021, amid U.S. withdrawal, the KPF faced demobilization pressures, with remnants surrendering to Taliban forces or dispersing, marking the end of its operations and underscoring vulnerabilities in externally sustained militias post-foreign support.^[3]^[2]

Origins and Formation

Early Establishment Post-2001 Invasion

Following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan in October 2001, which toppled the Taliban regime by December, the CIA rapidly initiated recruitment of local paramilitary forces to secure volatile border regions and conduct counterinsurgency operations against Taliban remnants and al-Qaeda affiliates. In Khost province, adjacent to Pakistan's tribal areas and a known sanctuary for militants, the agency identified the need for a dedicated force to fill security vacuums amid the nascent Afghan National Army's limited capacity. This effort drew from existing Afghan Military Forces (AMF) units, leveraging tribal and military networks to build rapid-response capabilities without relying solely on conventional coalition troops.^[2]^[1] The Khost Protection Force (KPF) emerged as one of the earliest such units, with CIA recruitment beginning approximately one month after the agency's operational arrival in Afghanistan in late 2001. It was initially constituted from the core of the AMF's 25th Division, comprising around 800 personnel familiar with the local terrain and insurgent threats, though the division itself was later disbanded between 2004 and 2005 as part of broader AMF restructuring. Command was placed under Ghaffar Khan, a former 25th Division leader and Czechoslovakia-trained police officer with experience in regional security operations. This structure allowed the KPF to function as a provisional Counterterrorism Pursuit Team (CTPT), prioritizing intelligence-driven raids over static defense.^[2] From inception, the CIA exerted direct oversight, providing training in special operations tactics, equipment such as small arms and vehicles, salaries for fighters, and selection of subordinate commanders to ensure alignment with U.S. objectives. The force's mandate focused on Khost-specific threats, including cross-border incursions and high-value target captures, operating with a mandate for aggressive pursuit that complemented Special Operations Forces but operated semi-autonomously to exploit local knowledge. By early 2002, the KPF had established bases in Khost city and outlying districts, marking it as a foundational element in the CIA's paramilitary ecosystem amid the fragmented post-invasion security landscape.^[2]^[1]

Initial CIA Integration and Local Recruitment

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) was established by the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in late 2001, immediately following the U.S.-led invasion of Afghanistan, with recruitment commencing in December 2001—one month after CIA teams arrived in the country in November.^[2]^[6] This integration positioned the KPF as a CIA-controlled paramilitary unit, functioning as a stopgap Counterterrorism Pursuit Team for kill-or-capture missions against Taliban and al-Qaeda remnants in eastern Afghanistan, particularly in the volatile Loya Paktia region bordering Pakistan.^[2] The CIA provided direct oversight, including training, equipment, salaries equivalent to those of Afghan generals, and operational basing at facilities like Camp Chapman in Khost province, while bypassing formal Afghan government chains of command due to the nascent state of national security institutions.^[7]^[2] Initial recruitment drew from local remnants of the Afghan Military Forces' 25th Division, a Khost-based militia of approximately 800 former personnel, including ex-PDPA officers and tribal fighters with prior combat experience against Soviet forces or the Taliban.^[2]^[8] The CIA emphasized enlisting Khost province residents—over 90% of the force—for their intimate knowledge of terrain, insurgent networks, and cross-border dynamics, prioritizing candidates with literacy, technical skills, and reliability in night raids and intelligence gathering.^[2] Tribal composition reflected Khost's demographics, with the predominant Tani Pashtuns supplying over 4,000 fighters, supplemented by smaller groups from the Zadran (500), Mangal (700), and Mandozai (700) tribes, leveraging existing anti-Taliban loyalties and militia networks among local strongmen.^[2]^[7] Under the command of Ghaffar Khan, a Czechoslovakia-trained police officer with local ties, the KPF rapidly expanded from its core to conduct early search-and-destroy operations alongside U.S. Special Forces in 2002–2003, targeting insurgent safe havens despite high initial casualty rates that later declined with improved tactics.^[2]^[7] This model of CIA-directed local recruitment ensured operational effectiveness in denied areas but prioritized short-term counterterrorism over long-term Afghan institutional development.^[2]

Organizational Structure

Command and Control

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) operated under direct command and control of the United States Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), which supplied funding, training, intelligence, and operational directives for its counterinsurgency missions in eastern Afghanistan.^[2]^[1] This structure positioned the CIA as the primary authority, with Afghan personnel executing tactical actions but lacking independent decision-making authority on high-value targets or strategic objectives.^[9] Headquartered at Camp Chapman, the CIA's principal forward operating base in Khost province established after the 2001 U.S. invasion, the KPF integrated CIA case officers and U.S. Special Forces advisors who coordinated kill-or-capture raids, drone strikes, and border interdictions against the Haqqani network and Taliban affiliates.^[9]^[10] Local Afghan commanders, drawn from tribal militias and vetted for loyalty, managed subunits of approximately 3,500 fighters but required CIA approval for engagements involving U.S. assets, ensuring alignment with broader U.S. intelligence priorities over Afghan National Army protocols.^[1] Nominally designated as the Afghan National Army's 25th Division by the Ministry of Defense, the KPF functioned with de facto autonomy from Kabul's chain of command, bypassing standard Afghan military hierarchies due to persistent distrust between the Ghani administration and CIA-backed units.^[10]^[7] This arrangement, rooted in post-2001 militia integrations, prioritized operational effectiveness against cross-border threats but contributed to tensions with Afghan officials, who viewed the KPF as a parallel force under foreign oversight rather than national integration.^[11] By 2020, amid U.S.-Taliban peace negotiations, discussions emerged to potentially transfer KPF oversight to Afghan control, though implementation remained limited before the 2021 withdrawal.^[12]

Size, Training, and Equipment

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) comprised approximately 5,500 personnel, with roughly 3,000 serving as fighters and the remainder in support roles such as logistics and intelligence.^[2] Personnel were primarily recruited from local Pashtun tribes in Khost province, including Tani (about 4,000 members), Mandozai (700), Mangal (700), and Zadran (500).^[2] Alternative estimates place the fighter strength at around 3,500, reflecting its role as a specialized paramilitary unit integrated from earlier local militias post-2001.^[3] Training was conducted exclusively by CIA personnel and U.S. special forces, emphasizing American procedures for counterinsurgency operations.^[2] Recruits underwent rigorous instruction at facilities like Camp Chapman, focusing on night raids, helicopter insertions, intelligence gathering, and advanced skills such as operating personal computers, smartphones, and complex communication systems; literacy was a prerequisite for selection.^[2]^[13] KPF units were equipped with modern weaponry and support assets supplied by the CIA, including small arms, mortars, and armored vehicles suited for rapid mobile operations, though lacking heavy artillery.^[2]^[13] This armament enabled covert kill-or-capture missions along the Afghan-Pakistani border, with U.S. provision of real-time intelligence enhancing operational effectiveness.^[2]

Operational Role

Counter-Insurgency Missions

The Khost Protection Force conducted counter-insurgency missions primarily through small-scale, covert kill-or-capture raids, focusing on disrupting Taliban and Haqqani network operations in Khost province and the broader Loya Paktia region along the Afghanistan-Pakistan border.^[1]^[2] These operations emphasized night raids and targeted strikes against insurgent fighters, facilitators, and cross-border incursions, leveraging local knowledge to pursue high-value targets affiliated with al-Qaeda and other militant groups.^[7]^[9] Integrated with CIA directives from Camp Chapman, KPF units operated with autonomy, receiving specialized training, advanced equipment, and occasional US special forces and air support to execute helicopter-borne assaults and border interdictions.^[1]^[7] Missions often extended into Pakistan with tacit local approval, aiming to neutralize Haqqani sanctuaries that enabled attacks into Afghanistan, such as those facilitating foreign fighters and suicide bombings.^[2] By 2015, these efforts had secured Khost province, confining Taliban activity to isolated suicide squads rather than sustained control.^[2]^[14] Effectiveness stemmed from low operational casualties—fewer than 50 KPF members killed across major tribal contingents—and zero recorded defections to insurgents, enabling sustained pressure that inflicted hundreds of enemy losses annually through precision targeting.^[2] At peak strength of approximately 3,000 to 5,500 fighters, the force maintained border vigilance and conducted preemptive strikes, such as those dismantling Haqqani logistics nodes tied to attacks in Kabul and eastern Afghanistan.^[1]^[9] This approach prioritized mobility over static defense, contrasting with Afghan National Army units by avoiding large-scale battles and focusing on asymmetric disruption of insurgent command structures.^[2]

Key Engagements and Effectiveness

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) primarily conducted counter-insurgency operations consisting of night raids and targeted ambushes against Taliban and Haqqani network fighters in eastern Afghanistan's Loya Paktia region, including Khost, Paktia, and Paktika provinces.^[2] These operations focused on disrupting insurgent logistics, thwarting cross-border incursions from Pakistan, and conducting occasional raids across the border to neutralize threats.^[2] Notable engagements included ambushes in Mandozai district, such as one in Selab Chenar that killed six insurgents and another in Hazer that eliminated seven. KPF effectiveness stemmed from CIA-provided training, equipment, and salaries ranging from $400 to $800 per month, enabling a force that grew to approximately 5,500 members, including 3,000 fighters, by the mid-2010s.^[2] The group sustained low casualties—fewer than 22 from the Zadran tribe and over 20 from the Mangal—while inflicting significant losses on insurgents, contributing to the stabilization of Khost province by 2015 and preventing Haqqani network dominance, as noted by a U.S. official.^[2] ^[14] Unlike Afghan government security forces, the KPF experienced no defections to the Taliban, bolstered by tribal loyalties, particularly from the Tani tribes that provided over 4,000 recruits.^[2] United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) reports credited the KPF with enhancing overall security in Khost through persistent operations against Taliban, ISIS-Khorasan, and al-Qaeda affiliates.^[15] ^[2] This paramilitary approach proved more resilient in holding terrain than conventional Afghan National Army units in the region, though its success relied heavily on external CIA support rather than broad local governance integration.^[2]

Controversies and Criticisms

Allegations of Human Rights Abuses

The Khost Protection Force (KPF) has been accused of conducting abusive night raids resulting in extrajudicial killings of civilians, arbitrary detentions, and other violations of the laws of war.^[5]^[7] Human Rights Watch documented multiple cases based on interviews with 39 witnesses and victims' relatives in nine provinces from 2017 to 2019, describing KPF operations as often involving summary executions without evidence of insurgent ties.^[5] These allegations highlight a pattern of impunity, as KPF forces, operating under CIA direction rather than Afghan military command, faced minimal oversight or prosecution.^[5]^[7] A prominent incident occurred on December 30, 2018, in Surkai village, Zurmat district, Paktia province, where KPF members raided a compound, detonated explosives to breach the wall, and shot six unarmed men in the head or vital areas before burning two vehicles.^[16]^[5] Victims included Naim Faruqi, a 60-year-old former district governor and tribal elder shot in the eye; his nephew Muhammad Karim, a university student in his 20s shot in the mouth; three other young relatives; and neighbor Muhammad Omar, a farmer.^[16] A survivor reported an American in uniform questioning him via translator during the raid, but no arrests followed despite family complaints to provincial authorities.^[16] The Paktia governor's office acknowledged KPF and foreign troop involvement, though the U.S. military denied direct participation.^[16] In March 2018, in Nader Shah Kot district, Khost province, a KPF raid targeted the home of Razo Khan, separating men from women and children before killing two brothers and sister-in-law Khanzari, who was shot three times in the head; her three-year-old daughter Marina died burned in the torched bedroom.^[9]^[7] Local investigators, including Khost provincial council member Jan-mir Zazai, deemed the family innocent of insurgent links, with villagers discovering the bodies; a United Nations report corroborated the abuses, but no accountability ensued.^[9] Another raid in August 2019 in Paktia province killed 11 civilians, attributed to a joint operation involving KPF elements under NDS 01, with relatives denying any Taliban affiliations among the victims.^[5] United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) data for 2018 recorded 353 civilian casualties from such pro-government militia actions, a 185% increase from 2017, often involving intentional killings and property destruction without subsequent investigations.^[7] Rare prosecutions, such as two KPF members convicted in 2015 for a boy's killing, underscore the broader lack of judicial recourse.^[7] Afghan officials and analysts have noted that targeting families perceived as anti-Haqqani network fueled local resentment, potentially aiding Taliban recruitment, though KPF defenders claimed operations aimed at insurgents.^[5]^[9]

Political and Strategic Ramifications

The Khost Protection Force's (KPF) direct subordination to the CIA, rather than the Afghan central government, created a parallel power structure that eroded the legitimacy of the Afghan National Security Forces and exacerbated governance fragmentation in eastern Afghanistan. By operating with impunity from Afghan oversight until its partial transfer to the National Directorate of Security in March 2020, the KPF fostered perceptions of foreign interference, prompting tribal elders to lobby presidents Hamid Karzai and Ashraf Ghani against its abuses, yet with limited success due to U.S. influence.^[2] This dynamic intensified tribal rivalries, particularly among Tani-dominant recruits versus Zadran and Mangal groups, driving insurgent recruitment as alienated communities viewed the KPF as a tribal militia enforcing selective retribution rather than national defense.^[2] Strategically, the KPF's military successes—such as thwarting Taliban cross-border incursions in Loya Paktia from 2014 to 2019 with minimal own casualties—provided the U.S. with a deniable counterterrorism tool unbound by the 2014 Bilateral Security Agreement, sustaining intelligence and strike operations in a volatile border region. However, this reliance on a non-state proxy neglected integration into state institutions, amplifying vulnerabilities during the U.S. drawdown; the force's growth to approximately 5,500 members by 2021 masked underlying dependencies on American logistics and air support.^[2] ^[3] In the peace process, the KPF emerged as a flashpoint, with Taliban negotiators in Doha citing CIA-backed militias like it as symbols of persistent occupation, demanding their dismantlement to verify U.S. commitments under the February 2020 agreement. Its existence complicated intra-Afghan talks by highlighting the Afghan government's limited control over U.S.-aligned forces, contributing to stalled ceasefires and intra-elite distrust. The KPF's negotiated surrender to the Taliban in August 2021, amid the republic's collapse, underscored these liabilities, as localized deals by tribal networks accelerated provincial falls without coordinated resistance, leaving a strategic intelligence vacuum along the Pakistan border and diminishing U.S. over-the-horizon capabilities.^[12] ^[2]

Dissolution and Legacy

Response to Taliban Offensive

As the Taliban escalated their nationwide offensive in mid-2021, capturing numerous districts and provincial centers, Khost province experienced rapid deterioration of security. The provincial capital, Khost City, fell to Taliban forces on August 15, 2021, coinciding with the collapse of the Afghan government in Kabul. Despite the KPF's prior reputation for resilience and effectiveness in countering Taliban incursions—having maintained control over key areas without significant defections—the unit mounted no documented sustained defense against the advance.^[2] On August 16, 2021, remnants of the KPF in Dwa Mandi district surrendered en masse to Taliban fighters, marking the effective end of the force's operational capacity in the province. This capitulation aligned with broader patterns among Afghan paramilitary groups, where local militias integrated into national structures or reliant on external support disintegrated amid logistical failures, command breakdowns, and eroding morale following the U.S. withdrawal. The surrender precluded prolonged engagements, contributing to the Taliban's uncontested consolidation of Khost without reported major KPF-led counteroffensives or holdouts.^[17] Post-surrender, the KPF's dissolution reflected systemic vulnerabilities in CIA-backed militias, which, while tactically proficient in isolated operations, proved dependent on sustained foreign funding and air support that evaporated during the offensive. No verified accounts indicate KPF units relocated to resist elsewhere, underscoring the offensive's momentum as a causal factor in their legacy of localized success yielding to national-level fragility.^[18]

Post-2021 Status and Resettlement Efforts

Following the Taliban takeover of Afghanistan in August 2021, the Khost Protection Force ceased operations as a cohesive unit, with its members dispersing amid threats of reprisal from Taliban forces. Many KPF fighters, who had collaborated closely with U.S. and CIA elements, faced targeted risks including execution or imprisonment, prompting urgent evacuation efforts by American agencies. While some members reportedly surrendered to Taliban authorities in Khost province during negotiations in late 2021, others were extracted by the CIA as part of broader operations involving Afghan paramilitary proxies known as "Zero Units."^[19]^[20] In September 2021, the CIA airlifted hundreds of Zero Unit members, including those from the KPF operating in southeastern Afghanistan, from bases like Eagle Base to Hamid Karzai International Airport in Kabul before their relocation to the United States via Fort Dix, New Jersey. This evacuation prioritized immediate families, though extended relatives were often left behind, subjecting them to reported abuses such as detention and threats. Resettled KPF affiliates have been supported through U.S. government programs providing initial housing assistance, food aid, and commitments from the CIA for pathways to citizenship, though implementation details remain opaque.^[20]^[21]^[20] Post-resettlement, former KPF members have encountered integration challenges in American communities, including language barriers, limited employment prospects often confined to low-wage roles such as in halal groceries, and psychological trauma from the abrupt displacement. Specific cases include fighters resettling in locations like Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where they have voiced frustrations over unassisted relatives still in Afghanistan and the lack of comprehensive follow-up support. As of late 2022, no large-scale public data on long-term outcomes for KPF evacuees has been released, reflecting the classified nature of their prior CIA affiliations and ongoing security concerns.^[20]^[22]