Afghanistan’s ‘fraying’ security forces to face inquiry after militant gains

Syed Salahuddin Kabul: Afghanistan’s Defense Ministry will launch an investigation into a US watchdog’s finding that the country’s security forces are fraying in the face of gains by militants despite years of Western funding costing tens of billions of dollars.
Afghan military and police forces have shrunk by about 10 percent in the past year, according to a report released this week by John Sopko, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
The inspector general’s report offered no explanation for the shrinking ranks of the Afghan security forces.
His report said that 12 percent of the Afghan population lived in areas that the Taliban and other militant groups either “controlled or influenced.” A year ago, the figure was only 9.6 percent.
The watchdog’s warning comes amid soaring casualty rates in the country’s army and police, with some US lawmakers and officials openly saying the US-led war in Afghanistan — the longest conflict in America’s history — is heading toward failure.
“Building up the Afghan security forces is a key priority for the US and our allies, so it’s concerning to see a drop in force strength,” Sopko said.
“The government will conduct an investigation into the report and release its findings,” Mohammed Radmanish, spokesman for the Afghan Defense Ministry, told Arab News.
He rejected the suggestion that the US-backed Afghan National Unity Government was facing difficulties with recruitment, or that casualties and desertions were thinning the ranks of the army.
“We have no shortages or problem persuading people to join the army. People are joining the army every day,” Radmanish said.
“People take leave, some are sick, some are in rotation. The army is carrying out more operations against the insurgents. We have had no report of desertions or surrender to the enemy,” he said.
The geographical area of government’s operation has expanded, and the militants have failed to capture or hold new districts, he said.
The US and its allies are estimated to have spent more than $70 billion building and equipping the Afghan security forces since the ousting of the Taliban in late 2001.
About 14,000 US troops are now based in Afghanistan. At the height of the Afghan war in 2009 and afterwards, more than 140,000 coalition troops fought against the insurgents.