Afghanistan's national police academy is set to begin classes Saturday, for the first time in a decade.
Interior Minister Taj Mohammed Wardak officially reopened the Kabul police academy Thursday, saying the goal is to create a national police force that respects human rights and includes members from all ethnic groups.
The Kabul academy has been rebuilt and refurbished with foreign donations. The largest single donation of four-million dollars for the six-year rebuilding project was from Germany.
A German police official (Major Achim Schmitz) told the Associated Press (news agency) in Kabul that 12 German officers are in Afghanistan to provide assistance to the police force and advise authorities on training.
The academy has not had regular classes since a bloody civil war erupted in Afghanistan in 1992. The ousted Taleban government allowed only a few courses taught to a selected group of people, but fired most of the teachers and scaled down the school's operations.