Why the NDS matters: The emergence of the Afghan intelligence agency after 9/11

Abstract

Governments in Afghanistan paid little attention to the basic function and importance of intelligence during the last four decades. Immediately after the United States drawdown at the end of 2014, the National Directorate of Security (NDS) faced numerous challenges in tackling certain issues, which will be outlined in detail throughout this article, since the Pakistan Inter-Services Intelligence trained and funded the Taliban on its soil and continues to provide military and financial support to the Taliban and other terrorist groups carrying out attacks against the Afghan Security Forces across the country. The NDS continues to suffer from key intelligence capabilities, especially in gathering intelligence information from remote areas in order to prevent Pakistan’s interference in Afghanistan affairs. The failure of major powers to come to the aid of Afghanistan and strengthen its intelligence agency not only created more extremism, radicalisation, and terrorism but also created insecurity and instability. Consequently, to thoroughly analyse the intelligence operations of the NDS, detailed interviews were conducted with senior political figures. This article argues that the reform of the intelligence agencies is imperative, and the depoliticisation of the intelligence process is as much an element of national reconciliation as consolidation of power. Reforming the intelligence agencies therefore requires not only a change in the state, but also a change in the state of mind of the players involved.