Khost Protection Force (KPF)

The Khost Protection Force or KPF was an Afghan paramilitary group directed and supported by the U.S. Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). The unit operated in the southeastern Afghanistan province of Khost. It was established in late 2001 at a time when there was no Afghan military or police forces. The KPF works closely with the National Directorate of Security (NDS). Their area of operations included the provinces of Khost, Paktia, and Paktika.

With the fall of Afghanistan to the Taliban the KPF fled Khost - having been giving safe passage by the Taliban in the Khost province region. However the KPF were forced to surrender to the Taliban once they reached Paktia. The surrender of the KPF took place in Dwa Mandey. It is reported that 6,000 personnel and 1,200 vehicles were part of the surrender (numbers unconfirmed).

Articles about the KPF

November 16, 2020. "Atrocities Pile Up for CIA-backed Afghan Paramilitary Forces", by Emran Feroz, Foreign Policy. Some call for the disbanding of the Khost Protection Force once the United States withdraws from Afghanistan.

July 17, 2020. "Demobilizing the Khost Protection Force: Paramilitary Groups in Afghanistan", by Sulaiman Aziz Popal, The War Room, United States Army War College.

References

_____, "They've Shot Many Like This": Abusive Night Raids by CIA-Backed Afghan Strike Forces", Human Rights Watch, 2019, PDF, 60 pages.
https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/afghanistan1019_web.pdf