Afghan security forces held contractors ‘at gunpoint,’ stole $780,000: Watchdog

Afghan security forces held contractors “at gunpoint”, locked them in containers, and confiscated nearly $800,000 worth of equipment from August 2011 to November 2013, according to a shocking new report from the Pentagon’s Afghanistan watchdog.

The report, released Monday by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), examined three U.S. Army Corps of Engineers contracts awarded to American firms to perform infrastructure work and maintenance at Afghan military facilities. The contracts were awarded to U.S.-based firms ITT/Exelis Systems Corporation and IDS International Government Services, LLC

While in Afghanistan, contractors hired by the firm were held “against their will” and forced to perform work outside the scope of the contracts, SIGAR said. Afghan defense forces also laid claim to about $780,000 in equipment, arguing that because the equipment was on Afghan military bases it now belonged to them.

“A representative from one of the … contractors reported that their staff, all of whom are local Afghans, have been held against their will at gunpoint and locked in containers for extended hours when attempting to remove contract-owned equipment,” SIGAR said in its report. “The representative reported that staff found it extremely difficult to remove contractor-owned property, and in most cases, significant company property was not permitted to leave the site.”

Of 296 incidents between August 2011 and November 2013, 71 involved abuse, threats and intimidation of hired contractors, the report said.

In at least one instance, SIGAR said that Afghan security forces “shaved the heads of contractor staff” when they refused to perform work outside the scope of the contracts.

In addition to the physical abuse, Afghan personnel confiscated “drills, oxygen regulators, welding machines, saws, as well as office supplies including computers, a printer, an air conditioner, and refrigerators,” the report said.

The Army Corps of Engineers was forced to pay out hundreds of thousands of dollars to repay the contractors for the value of the equipment.

The Corps also had no plan to track such incidents.

“One contractor reported ’no comprehensive mechanism for formal coalition assistance evolved to address abuse and confiscation of property’ and that they never received any feedback on, or acknowledgment of” the incidents, SIGAR said.

The Army Corps of Engineers responded to the report by saying it will develop a system to track such incidents