"كتيب الجيش الفارسي" [و‎‎٤‎٣] (١٥٠/٩٠)

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CHAPTER XX.
Auxiliary Units and Semi-Military forces.
1 . General .—The only semi-military forces which
.exist in Persia are the Amnieh (road guards) and ttie
irregular tribesmen.
2 . Amnieh {road guards ).—This force, recently
organised, is used for the protection of the main roads.
It was originally formed of men of the old Gendar
merie who were considered unfit for the army. Re
emits are now taken from men who do not come up to
the standard of the regular forces. For purposes of
administration the country is divided into five dis
tricts corresponding with the divisional areas shown
in Chapter VII. The officer commanding each district
is attached to the headquarters of Division con
cerned, the officer commanding the whole Amnieh be
ing stationed in Tehran under the orders of the
Minister of the Interior.
The duty of the Amnieh is to give warning of the
existence of robbers and to identify the perpetratois
of any robbery, leaving their pursuit and capture to
the military authorities, if immediate capture canno
be effected.
It is intended to have one guard for every four miles
of road, but owing to lack of funds this number has
not been reached.
3. Irregular tribes.—The report of the Anglo-Persian
Military Commission (1920) gives the total fighting
strength of the principal tribes of Persia as 300,000
men, but estimates vary considerably.
It is impossible to estimate with any accuracy the
number of men which any group of tribes would put
into the field, since such varying factors as the dis
tance of the individual from his home an ^ inter-tribal
jealousies have a bearing on the subject. The Military
authorities hope eventually to obtain detachmen s
from each of the principal tribes for incorporation
in the Army.