Washington and Kabul are clueless as to how many Afghan security troops “actually exist,” are available for duty, and whether they are truly capable of defending their own country, a top government watchdog tells Congress.
The Pentagon has “lost much of its ability” to monitor the effectiveness and capability of the Afghan security forces as the Taliban and other insurgents have stepped up their assaults, stresses the top watchdog for U.S.-funded nation-building projects in Afghanistan.
A group of female detainees have burned down sections of the notorious Pul-e-Charkhi prison in the Afghan capital of Kabul following violent protests, Khaama Press reports.
Afghanistan’s Ministry of Defense is using a rap video to lure recruits into the Afghan National Army (ANA).
The Taliban has officially conquered five of the 14 districts in southern Afghanistan’s restive Helmand province, the New York Times (NYT) reports, citing Afghan government officials.
The U.S.-backed government of Afghanistan is turning to China for help in expanding the “extremely limited” capabilities of the Afghan Air Force (AAF).
The U.S.-led international coalition in Afghanistan continues to be drawn “into direct combat situations” despite having transitioned from a combat mission to a train, assist, and advise (TAA) role at the beginning of 2015, according to a United Nations report.
The United States has reportedly conducted nearly a dozen operations in the past three weeks against jihadists linked to the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL) branch in Afghanistan known as the Khorasan Province (ISIL-K), a testament to the U.S. military’s ongoing combat mission in the country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Army Human Resources Command (HRC) has recommended that decorated Green Beret Sgt. 1st Class Charles Martland be discharged for striking an Afghan police chief accused of repeatedly raping a boy.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The U.S. military fighting the war in Afghanistan, now in its 15th year, has been drawn into combat against a resilient Taliban a year after President Obama said American troops had ceased their combat mission in the country, reports a watchdog agency appointed by Congress.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Department of Defense (DOD) told the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a congressionally-appointed watchdog agency, that it cannot explain how a project costing U.S. Taxpayers nearly $800 million failed to produce “the intended economic growth or stabilization outcomes that justified its creation.”
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided inaccurate location data for at least 22 hospitals in the Afghanistan province of Kabul, placing the health facilities at risk of suffering the same deadly fate as the Doctors Without Borders medical center, according to a watchdog agency appointed by Congress.
A mob at a Muslim shrine in central Kabul killed an Afghan woman who was falsely accused of burning the Koran, showing that Afghanistan has not changed much despite more than 14 years of U.S.-led engagement.
Poor oversight of government contractors in Afghanistan paved the way for insurgents to plant roadside bombs under highways and embankments that ultimately killed and wounded U.S. troops, according to a congressional watchdog tasked with rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse in American taxpayer-funded projects to rebuild the war-torn country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Sexual abuse of young boys by powerful men in Afghanistan, a common practice that was punishable by death under Taliban rule, was “resurrected” after the terrorist group’s regime was overthrown by the U.S.-led invasion in 2001, reports a federal watchdog agency.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Pentagon lacks a reliable system to gauge whether the Afghan security troops are an effective fighting force capable of holding its ground against the enemies of Afghanistan, such as the Taliban and the Islamic State (ISIS/ISIL), reports a congressionally appointed watchdog agency.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — An estimated $300 million in U.S. taxpayer funds have been disbursed under President Obama’s watch to pay for “stabilization programs” that have fueled Taliban support and violence in Afghan villages, an independent watchdog agency appointed by Congress reveals.
WASHINGTON, D.C.—The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) provided inaccurate location data for nearly two dozen health facilities in the western Afghan province of Herat, placing the hospitals at risk of suffering the same deadly fate as the Doctors Without Borders medical center, a watchdog agency appointed by Congress found.
Contents: Suspicions grow that PKK doing Russia’s bidding in bombing Turkey’s pipelines; Report: Repeated failures in Afghanistan reconstruction projects; Japan’s economy returns to deflation
Afghan President Ashraf Ghani reportedly said the solution to combating the entrenched corruption endemic at all levels of the government in Afghanistan is to wage “national jihad,” or holy war, against it.
The U.S. State Department, when requesting American taxpayer funds to finance assistance for Afghan refugees in Iran, relies on unverifiable data that a United Nations agency obtains from the Islamic Republic, according to a watchdog agency appointed by Congress.
The Afghan national police and army forces are experiencing a decrease in their capability to fight the Taliban less than a year after they took the lead of combat operations from the U.S. military, reports a watchdog agency appointed by Congress.
The U.S. government has spent more than $1 billion in American taxpayer funds on programs to develop the rule of law in Afghanistan, including efforts to improve a judicial system that incorporates Islamic Sharia law, reports a watchdog agency appointed by Congress.
In an effort that is being seen as undermining U.S. officials’ assurances that security forces were holding their own, Afghanistan is forming local militias and urging old warlords to provide military assistance in response to a fierce Taliban offensive in the northern part of the country, The New York Times reports.
The Taliban is expanding across Afghanistan, raising widespread concern about whether the Afghan government and its forces are capable of dealing with the worsening security crisis afflicting the country.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — It remains uncertain whether the Afghan security forces will be able to carry out essential functions by the time the U.S. draws down to a small military presence at the end of 2016, according to the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR).
WASHINGTON, DC—The U.S. and Afghan governments lack accurate data on the Afghan security forces’s manpower, capability, and payroll, making it difficult to assess Afghanistan’s ability to fight the Taliban and prevent other terrorist groups from using the country to stage new attacks, according to a specially-appointed congressional watchdog agency.
Estimated opium production in Afghanistan, an important source of funding for the Taliban, has increased 35-fold since the U.S.-led invasion, from 185 tons in 2001 to 6,400 last year, data maintained by the United Nations shows.
The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), a watchdog agency appointed by Congress, is unable to publicly report on most of the $65 billion U.S. taxpayer efforts to develop the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF).
