The newly appointed police chief in Uruzgan Province Matiullah Khan has spoken exclusively to Karen Middleton.
Matiullah Khan is a warlord with a dark past: a private man running a private militia, 2,400-strong.
He is an introvert who can't read or write, but Matiullah Khan is a powerful figure in southern Afghanistan. And he is also Australia's new best friend.
Three weeks ago, President Hamid Karzai appointed Matiullah Khan as the province's chief of police.
In what is believed to be his first ever television interview, in Tarin Kowt, Karen Middleton asked about allegations of nepotism.
"There won't be any pressure because people already know me -- what kind of person I am -- and they will choose to come and work with me," he said.
Mattiullah Khan's security force, the KAU, or Uruzgan highway patrol, charges coalition forces for protection on the road from Tarin Kowt to Kandahar.
Some accuse him of extortion, but he denied the claims.
"No, it's wrong. We don't take money illegally from them. We escort them. We keep security for the," he told SBS.
Some Afghans accuse him of past links to the Taliban, but Mattiullah Khan says they have killed his men.
"It's not true," he said. "Some people, mispreach against me. The thing is, I have lost 420 personnel guys this way. If I had any links, I wouldn't have any casualties".
Australian forces in Afghanistan have forged close ties with Matiullah Khan, despite his controversial background before he became police chief.
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