Watan Risk Management
is officially headed by two of President Hamid Karzai’s cousins: Ahmed Rateb Popal and Rashid Popal.  Afghanistan has barred Watan and Compass private security firms from one of the country's most dangerous highways from Kabul to Kandahar after their guards shot and killed two civilians, the government said Sunday, 20100509. The victims were killed accidentally in separate incidents on the road that connects the Afghan capital Kabul to the south. On 20110315 seven companies are being dissolved which include Watan Risk Management, NCL, SSSI and LSG.

The two firms, Compass and Watan Risk Management, are among 52 private security companies registered to operate in Afghanistan. Watan Risk Management is Afghan owned, British managed and controlled. Watan Risk is owned by the Popal family, cousins of the Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

The Watan Group was blacklisted this week as part of a U.S. effort to stop aid dollars slipping into the hands of corrupt officials and Taliban commanders. (20101211). The U.S. move to ban Watan from future contracts follows a Congressional report in June 2010 that determined the firm engaged in widespread bribery of Afghan officials and regional strongmen to ensure safe passage along NATO supply routes.

Canada is standing by the controversial Afghan security firm that’s controlled by Afghanistan’s ruling Karzai family despite a U.S. military decision to sever ties with it. The Watan Group safeguards Canada’s signature Dahla Dam restoration project in Kandahar. From the planning stages of the Dahla Dam project, Canadian officials were warned Watan is essentially the lucrative military wing of Ahmed Wali Karzai, or “AWK,” the president’s younger half-brother and the pre-eminent power broker in southern Afghanistan. The Watan Group has its own training facility at its farm in Paghman, close to Kabul Golf Course and just 20 minutes from Kabul. The farm features a live firing range and a large area for scenario training. Watan has an Education Centre in Kabul. Watan has classroom facilities at its headquarters on the Salang Watt in Kabul for classroom based education activities such as language or computer training, available to all Watan employees as part of the Professional Development Programme. Watan Risk Management has a Kabul Office and also Offices in Camp Bastion, Herat and Mazar-i-Sharif.

Kabul Office: Amo Plaza, Karte Aryana, Salang Watt Kabul, Afghanistan. Country Manager: +93(0)799600056 Kabul Corporate Manager: +93(0)794638050 Senior Business Manager: +93(0)799838615 Senior Business Manager: +93(0)796536812