KABUL, Afghanistan, Oct. 3 (UPI) -- President Hamid Karzai has begun closing down the Afghan operations of private security forces, the government said Sunday.
Karzai caught Western backers by surprise in August when he announced a ban on private security firms to take effect by year's end, the Los Angeles Times reported.
NATO forces rely on contractors to guard bases and supply lines, and many international organizations also use them.
In a speech Saturday, the president told Afghan security forces they must prepare to take over protecting Afghanistan, because "it is possible that one day the international community … will leave us, like they left us in the past."
Karzai's spokesman, Waheed Omer, said some of the four Afghan and four foreign companies initially targeted already had handed over weapons and disbanded, while the others are being shut down.
Among the foreign companies is North Carolina-based Xe Services, formerly Blackwater. Last week, a federal judge in Virginia declared a mistrial for two security contractors for its subsidiary who were accused of killing two Afghan civilians.
Also slated for closure are Four Horsemen International, based in New Mexico; NCL Holdings LLC, headquartered in Virginia; and Compass International, a British firm.
