Private security firms are fueling corruption in Afghanistan, says the top British commander in the country.

UK Major General Nick Carter said on Friday that they are operating with impunity and lack regulation.

Jim Brann from the Stop the War coalition in London believes that the durability of central power in Afghanistan is very doubtful.

“Years of private contractors in Afghanistan, as in Iraq, is a major factor and a major new development,” Brann told RT. “I think a few months ago it was estimated that there were more private contractors than were US troops, so they have become the biggest foreign contingent. In fact, in Afghanistan a lot of these people are locally recruited. They get paid considerably more than the Afghan national army.”

“I think in Afghanistan it’s slightly different than in Iraq, because in Iraq they [the forces] seem to be overwhelmingly foreign,” he added. “Some of them are paid much less – [those] from parts of Africa and Asia – while Western contractors are extremely highly paid.”

“NATO has completely failed to build any kind of central structure in Afghanistan, so now there does not see to be any way they can regulate them,” Brann said.