William Gallo VOA News May 1, 2018 The number of Afghan security forces declined sharply over the past year amid worsening violence, according to a U.S. government watchdog’s latest assessment of the conflict. Afghan police and army forces saw an almost 11-percent decline, according to the report released Tuesday by the Special Inspector General on
The washington Post: A major buildup of Afghanistan’s commando force, part of a strategy to fight insurgents who contest or control nearly half the country’s districts, could have a detrimental effect on conventional army units, already beaten down by years of combat, corruption and desertion. Click here to read more (external link).
Army Times: The Defense Department has reported that as of February, nine of the more than 150 Afghan trainees in the United States who went absent without leave, or AWOL, across the nation remain unaccounted for. Afghan trainees in the United States go AWOL at a rate of 6 percent. Conversely, trainees from other countries go AWOL at a
RFE/RL’s Radio Free Afghanistan April 21, 2018 Dozens of suspected Taliban and Islamic State (IS) militants were killed by Afghan security forces in the past 24 hours across the country, Afghan authorities said on April 21. The Ministry of Defense said in a statement that 21 suspected Taliban militants, including a local commander, were killed
Jill Craig VOA News March 23, 2018 She was active in the Afghan army for more than three decades; a commando and a paratrooper with nearly 600 parachute jumps, earning awards, certificates, and medals. She has trained hundreds of Ministry of Defense personnel. But she never made general. It took the U.S.-led military coalition’s defeat
Press TV March 10, 2018 At least 18 Afghan soldiers have been killed by Taliban militants in Afghanistan’s western province of Farah. Local officials said on Saturday that the overnight attack was carried out in Bala Buluk district, setting off a fierce gun battle. Afghan Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri said four soldiers had been
Samir Rassoly VOA News March 9, 2018 ATLANTA, GEORGIA — It was a sunny day. As U.S. Staff Sergeant Jonny Jones was on patrol in Afghanistan’s Helmand province – suddenly – a land mine exploded, changing the life of this U.S. Marine forever. “Joey” as his friends call him, lost both of his legs in the
Ayaz Gul VOA News February 22, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Afghanistan’s ministry of defense has announced the creation of a new militia force comprising about 36,000 men to defend areas that military-led operations have cleared of Taliban insurgents. The move comes despite long-running accusations of rights abuses against the existing Afghan Local Police, which consists of local
VOA News February 21, 2018 ISLAMABAD — A global watchdog is calling on Afghan authorities and the U.S. military to promptly investigate allegations local forces summarily executed civilians during recent counter-Taliban operations in the southern Kandahar province. The alleged abuses occurred from January 31 to February 1 when Afghan special forces, backed by U.S. airstrikes, undertook
Ayesha Tanzeem VOA News January 29, 2018 ISLAMABAD — Eleven members of the Afghan National Army were killed and 16 others wounded in an early morning attack on a military academy in Kabul Monday. “The attack is against an army unit providing security for the academy and not the academy itself,” said Dawlat Waziri, a spokesman