Askari An askari was a local soldier serving in the armies of the European colonial powers in Africa , particularly in East Africa , Northeast Africa , and Central Africa . Not only was the word used in that sense in English , but also in French , German , Italian , and Portuguese . The designation is still in use today to describe police , gendarmerie and security guards . During the period of the European colonial empires in Africa , locally recruited soldiers were employed by Italian , British , Portuguese , German and Belgian colonial armies . They played a crucial role in the conquest of the various colonial possessions , and subsequently served as garrison and internal security forces . During both World Wars askari units served outside their colonies of origin , in various parts of Africa , the Middle East and Asia . Etymology . The word " askari " is a loan word from Arabic ( " ʿaskarī " ) meaning " soldier " . The Arabic word is a derivation from ( " ʿaskar " ) meaning " army " , which in turn is from Persian ( " laškar " ) . Words for " ( a regular ) soldier " derived from these Arabic words are found in Amharic , Azeri , Somali , Swahili , Tajik , Turkish and Urdu . Belgian colonies . In the Belgian Congo , the askaris were organised into the " Force Publique " . This combined military and police force was commanded by white Belgian officers and NCOs . During the genocidal and brutal exploitation of the Congo Free State , in the years 1885 - 1908 , many of the askaris were recruited from East Africa . This was done in part so that they would have no close ties to the native Congolese population , and fewer qualms about mistreating or killing them . British colonies . The Imperial British East Africa Company raised units of askaris from among the Swahili people , the Sudanese and Somalis . There was no official uniform , nor standardised weaponry . Many of the askaris campaigned in their native dress . Officers usually wore civilian clothes . From 1895 the British askaris were organised into a regular , disciplined , uniformed force called the East African Rifles , later part of the King ' s African Rifles . The designation of " askari " was retained for locally recruited troops in the King ' s African Rifles , smaller military units and police forces in the colonies until the end of British imperial rule in Kenya , Tanganyika and Uganda during the period 1961 - 63 . German colonies . The German Colonial Army ( " Schutztruppe " ) of the German Empire employed native troops with European officers and NCO s in its colonies . The main concentration of such locally recruited troops was in German East Africa ( now Tanzania . ) Formed in 1881 after the transfer of the " Wissmanntruppe " ( raised in 1889 to suppress the Abushiri Revolt ) to German imperial control . The first askaris formed in German East Africa were raised by DAOG ( " Deutsche Ost - Afrika Gesellschaft " - the German East Africa Company ) in about 1888 . Originally drawn from Sudanese mercenaries , the German askaris were subsequently recruited from the Wahehe and Angoni tribal groups . They were harshly disciplined but well paid ( on a scale twice that of their British counterparts in the King ' s African Rifles ) , and highly trained by German cadres who were themselves subject to a rigorous selection process . Prior to 1914 the basic " Schutztruppe " unit in Southeast Africa was the " feldkompanie " comprising seven or eight German officers and NCOs with between 150 and 200 askaris ( usually 160 ) - including two machine gun teams . Such small independent commands were often supplemented by tribal irregulars or " ruga - ruga " . They were successfully used in German East Africa where 11 , 000 askaris , porters and their European officers , commanded by Paul Emil von Lettow - Vorbeck , managed to resist numerically superior British , Portuguese and Belgian colonial forces until the end of World War I in 1918 . The Weimar Republic provided pension payments to the German askaris . Due to interruptions during the worldwide depression and World War II , the parliament of the Federal Republic of Germany ( West Germany ) voted in 1964 to fund the back pay of the askaris still alive . The West German embassy at Dar es Salaam identified approximately 350 ex - askaris and set up a temporary cashiers office at Mwanza on Lake Victoria . Only a few claimants could produce the certificates given to them in 1918 ; others provided pieces of their old uniforms as proof of service . The banker who had brought the money came up with an idea : as each claimant stepped forward he was handed a broom and ordered in German to perform the manual of arms . Not one of them failed the test . Nazi Germany . During WWII , the Germans used the term " askaris " for Red Army , largely Russian , deserters who formed units fighting against the Red Army and in other action on the Eastern front . Soviet archives apply the term to Latvians , Lithuanians , and Ukrainians — who all fought against the Red Army , not Russians . This term was also applied to the Western Ukrainian volunteer units like the Nightingale Battalion , Schuma battalions , and the 14th Waffen Grenadier Division of the SS , which was used in many operations during WWII . Most of them were either Red Army deserters or anti - communist peasants recruited from Western Ukrainian rural areas under German occupation . Italian colonies . " See article : Regio Corpo Truppe Coloniali " The Italian army in Italian East Africa recruited Eritrean and subsequently Somali troops to serve with Italian officers and some NCOs . These forces comprised infantry , cavalry and some light artillery units . The Italian askaris ( " ascari " ) fought in the First Italo – Ethiopian War , Italian - Turkish War , Second Italo - Abyssinian War and World War II ( East African Campaign ) . History . The first Eritrean battalions were raised in 1888 from Muslim and Christian volunteers , replacing an earlier Basci - Buruk corps of irregulars . The four " Indigeni " battalions in existence by 1891 were incorporated into the Royal Corps of African Troops that year . Expanded to eight battalions , the Eritrean ascaris fought with distinction at Agordat , Kassala , Coatit and Adwa and subsequently served in Libya and Ethiopia . Out of a total of 256 , 000 Italian troops serving in Italian East Africa in 1940 , about 182 , 000 were recruited from Eritrea , Somalia and the recently occupied ( 1935 – 36 ) Ethiopia . When in January 1941 , British Commonwealth forces invaded Ethiopia in January 1941 most of the locally recruited ascaris deserted . The majority of the Eritrean Ascari s remained loyal until the Italian surrender four months later . Organisation . Initially the Eritrean Ascaris comprised only infantry battalions , although Eritrean cavalry squadrons ( " Penne di Falco " ) and mountain artillery batteries were subsequently raised . By 1922 units of camel cavalry called " meharisti " had been added . Those Eritrean camel units were also deployed in Libya after 1932 . During the 1930s Benito Mussolini added some armored cars units to the Ascari . Uniforms . Eritrean regiments in Italian service wore high red fezzes with coloured tufts and waist sashes that varied according to each unit . As examples , the 17th Eritrean Battalion had black and white tufts and vertically striped sashes ; while the 64th Eritrean Battalion wore both of these items in scarlet and purple . White uniforms were worn for parade ( see illustration ) with khaki for other duties . The Somali ascari were similarly dressed , though with knee length shorts . Ranks . The Eritrean and Somali Ascari had the following ranks , from simple soldier to senior non commissioned officer : " Ascari " - " Muntaz ( corporal ) " - " Bulukbasci ( lance - sergeant ) " - " Sciumbasci ( sergeant ) " . The Sciumbasci - capos ( staff - sergeants ) were the senior Eritrean non - commissioned officers , chosen in part according to their performance in battle . All commissioned officers of the Eritrean Ascari were Italian . Spanish colonies . As noted above " askari " was normally a designation used in Sub - Saharan Africa . Exceptionally though , the term " askari " was also used by the Spanish colonial government in North - West Africa , in respect not of their regular Moroccan troops ( see regulares ) , but of a locally recruited gendarmerie force raised in Spanish Morocco in 1913 . They were known as the " Mehal - la Jalifianas " . This was the equivalent of the better known Goumier s employed in French Morocco . Indigenous members of the Tropas Nomadas or desert police serving in the Spanish Sahara were also designated as " askaris " , as were the other ranks of the Native Police ( " Policia Indigena " ) raised in Melilla in 1909 . Portuguese colonies . In Portuguese West Africa , and most other African colonies of the Portuguese Empire , local askaris were recruited . These were used to keep the peace in the nation - sized colonies . During the 20th century , all the indigenous troops were merged into a Portuguese colonial army . This military was segregated along lines of race , and until 1960 there were three classes of soldiers : commissioned soldiers ( European whites ) , overseas soldiers ( black African " civilizados " ) and native soldiers ( Africans who lived in the Portuguese colonies ) . These categories were renamed to 1st , 2nd and 3rd class in 1960 - which effectively corresponded to the same classification . Post 2003 Iraq War . Widely deployed Ugandan private security guards are also designated as askari . Guards were to receive $ 1 , 000 monthly salary and an $ 80 , 000 bonus if shot , but many have complained that the money was not paid or unfair fees assessed . The guards work for recruiting agencies such as Askar Security Services , which are hired by Beowulf International , a receiving company in Iraq , which subcontracts their services to EOD Technologies , an American company hired by the U . S . Department of Defense to provide security guards for Camp Victory in Baghdad . A Beowulf representative said that 400 of the workers " had impressed the US Army with their skill and experience " , but complained that some of the workers lacked police or security experience and " didn ' t even know how to hold a gun " . At least eleven other Ugandan recruiters include Dresak International and Connect Financial Services .