A spokesman of the Afghan interior ministry said that the CIP, made up of local militia, was operating outside the Afghan police structure, and people have complained in the provinces where the force was launched to protect reconstruction projects and join the fight against the Taliban."We have requested Nato that it be disbanded, our people are not happy about it.

They only want national police forces that they can recognise," said Sediq Sediqqi.

The row over the Critical Infrastructure Protection programme (CIP) launched in areas where there are not enough regular security forces threatens to open a new rift with President Hamid Karzai who sees them as parallel structures that undermine his authority.