KABUL - The Afghan National Police (ANP) forces received 492 Humvee vehicles from the United States as efforts are underway to improve the capabilities of the police forces.
A senior official in the Ministry of Interior, Murtaza Rahimi, said the delivery of 246 Humvees to the police forces concluded on Wednesday and the remaining 222 vehicles will be handed in the near future.
He said the special operations forces of the Afghan police, public order forces, border protection forces and the remaining zones will receive the other 222 vehicles.
Rahimi further added that the Ministry of Interior (MoI) will also receive 80,000 modern weapons including M-16 rifles in the future from the United States in the a bid to improve the capabilities of the police forces.
According to the ministry the delivery of the Humvees to the police forces by US was part of the country’s support to the Afghan forces in the framework of the Resolute Support mission led by NATO.
This comes as the United States Department of Defense (DoD) awarded a contract worth $109 million for the purchase of 433 Humvee vehicles to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF).
The contract was awarded to AM General by the Department of Defense (DoD) last months as efforts are underway to boost capabilities of the Afghan forces as they face a resurgent Taliban.
“AM General, South Bend, Indiana, was awarded a $108,766,885 modification (P00023) to foreign military sales contract (Afghanistan) W56HZV-15-C-0155 for 433 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles,” (DoD) said in a statement.
DoD further added that “Work will be performed in Mishawaka, Indiana, with an estimated completion date of Sept. 29, 2017. Fiscal 2015 other procurement funds in the amount of $108,766,855 were obligated at the time of the award. Army Contracting Command, Warren, Michigan, is the contracting activity.”
Earlier DoD awarded a contract to AM General for the manufacture and delivery of 1,673 Humvees to the Afghan forces earlier in August this year.
The contract called on AM General to deliver 1,259 units of the M1151A1B1 and 414 units of the M1152A1B2 models. (KP)