who really answers to who

Warlord management in Afghanistan
March 11 2006

KABUL (NNI): Despite Afghan government and Coalition efforts to reduce, and ultimately eliminate, tribal and provincial militias, these private armies have persisted.

These militias have been a long-stranding tradition in Afghanistan, where the central government has always been rather remote and weak.

While probably good for local security and defense against a somewhat resurgent Taliban, the survival of the militias signals a continuing weakness by the Afghan central government, according to a Strategy Page report.

Pressing hard on the issue is probably not a good idea, as this has often, over the past few centuries, led to considerable resistance and the collapse of the central government.

In response to this risk, in several provinces the local governors have arranged for most of the militiamen to be enrolled in the police or other security forces.
The individual gunmen still know which tribe they belong to, and who their tribal elders are, but the provincial governor provides uniforms, new weapons and regular salary. This plays upon another Afghan custom; the warlord.

While the tribe is where your ultimate loyalty lies, you can also serve two masters, the second one being a warlord who pays you regularly, and can, with the proper political and military moves, dominate the tribal leadership, and thus retain the loyalty of the tribesmen in the warlord army.