National Directorate of Security

The National Directorate of Security (NDS; Pashto: د ملي امنیت ریاست‎, Dari: ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی‎) is the primary intelligence agency of Afghanistan.[2]

National Directorate of Security
Pashto: د ملي امنیت ریاست‎
Dari: ریاست عمومی امنیت ملی‎
Agency overview
Formed2002 (2002)
Preceding agency
HeadquartersKabul, Afghanistan
EmployeesClassified
Annual budgetClassified
Agency executive
  • Ahmad Zia Saraj[1], Director
WebsiteOfficial website (registered but offline)
NDS operatives

Development

The National Directorate of Security was founded as the primary domestic and foreign intelligence agency of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan in 2002, and is considered the successor to KHAD,[3] which was the previous intelligence organization before the Afghan Civil War (1996–2001).

Organisation

The NDS is part of the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF),[4] and reports directly to the Office of the President.[5]

Operations

As the primary intelligence organ of Afghanistan, the NDS shares information with ministries of Afghanistan and with provincial authorities.[3] The NDS also cooperates with the American CIA, the Indian RAW, the Pakistani ISI, and other NATO intelligence agencies.

After the ouster of the Taliban in 2002, the NDS warned ISI about exiled militant commanders and al-Qaeda operatives hiding in Pakistan.[6] In early 2006, intelligence gathered from NDS detainees suggested Osama bin Laden resided in the western Pakistan town of Mansehra.[6] A classified NDS paper completed in May, titled "Strategy of the Taliban," claimed ISI and Saudi Arabia restarted active support for the Taliban in 2005.[6] Pakistan's military leadership sought to weaken and delegitimize Hamid Karzai's government, in order to prevent an alliance between Afghanistan and India.[6]

In 2007, Amrullah Saleh's NDS used arrests and interrogations to discover the majority of suicide bombings in Afghanistan originated among Paushtuns from Pakistan's Federally Administered Tribal Areas.[7]

During the April 2014 Afghan Presidential Election, the NDS, under Rahmatullah Nabil, collected thousands of signals intelligence indicating Ashraf Ghani's allies organized massive electoral fraud.[8]

The NDS has had a degree of success, including capturing Maulvi Faizullah,[9] a notable Taliban leader, and foiling an assassination attempt against Abdul Rashid Dostum in 2014.[10]

The NDS captured Aslam Farooqi, the chief of ISIS-K, on April 4 2020. [11]

Directors and deputy heads

The president of Afghanistan Ashraf Ghani is the Director.

See also

References
  1. "Afghanistan appoints new Intelligence Chief of NDS". Times of Islamabad. 10 September 2019.
  2. United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan. Treatment of Conflict-Related Detainees in Afghan Custody (PDF). UN Office of The High Commissioner for Human Rights, October 2011, Kabul. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2015-01-14. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  3. BBC (2011-08-14). "Article". BBC News. British Broadcasting Corporation - 14 August 2011. Retrieved 2015-07-30.
  4. Anthony H. Cordesman; Adam Mausner; Jason Lemieux (2010). Afghan National Security Forces: What it Will Take to Implement the ISAF Strategy. CSIS 1 Jan 2010, 230 pages. ISBN 978-0892066087. Retrieved 2015-07-29.(MOI is taken i.e. understood to refer to the Ministry of Interior according to page 62, not Ministry of Information)
  5. Abasin Zaheeron, ed. (May 20, 2012). "Iran, Pakistan out to weaken Afghanistan, MPs told". Pajhwok Afghan News. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  6. Coll, Steve (2018). Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Penguin Press. pp. 214–217.
  7. Coll, Steve (2018). Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Penguin Press. pp. 260–265.
  8. Coll, Steve (2018). Directorate S: The C.I.A. and America's Secret Wars in Afghanistan and Pakistan. New York: Penguin Press. pp. 649–651.
  9. reportage
  10. Jessica Donati & Mirwais Harooni (2015-03-21). "reportage". published by Reuters Sat Mar 21, 2015. Retrieved 2015-07-29.
  11. Philip, Snehesh Alex (2020-04-10). "Islamabad's claim over Kabul gurdwara bomber 'reeks of Pakistani conspiracy to save him'". ThePrint. Retrieved 2020-04-10.
  12. Carlotta Gall, ed. (August 19, 2010). "New Afghan Intelligence Chief Aims to Build Trust". The New York Times. Retrieved May 20, 2012.
  13. news published by Office of the Chief Executive of Islamic Republic of Afghanistan [Retrieved 2015-07-30]

Further reading
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