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SIGAR: Number of Afghan Defense Forces Continues to Decline

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Last Updated on: October 24, 2022

The strength of the embattled Afghan defense forces has declined to its lowest level in four years, a U.S. watchdog said on Thursday.

The latest quarterly report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) noted that the control of Afghanistan’s territory and population “became somewhat more contested (and) Afghan government control or influence continued to decline”.

It put districts under government control or influence at 53.8 percent covering 63.5 percent of the population by October 2018, with the rest of the country controlled or contested by the Taliban.

The hardline Islamist group has been unable to seize a major Afghan city but has stepped up pressure in rural areas and is now more powerful than any at other time since they were toppled by U.S.-backed Afghan forces in late 2001.

SIGAR cited a U.S. Forces-Afghanistan report that the Afghan National Defence and Security Forces had decreased to 308,693 troops, or 87.7 per cent of its assigned strength, the lowest since the creation of NATO’s operation to train, advise and assist Afghans in January 2015.

The United States has some 14,000 troops in Afghanistan as part of the NATO-led Resolute Support mission and a separate counter-terrorism effort largely directed at groups such as al Qaeda and Islamic State.

Some 8,000 troops from 38 other countries also participate in Resolute Support.

The report did not detail the reasons for the decreasing numbers and the Afghan government does not publish casualty figures. However, security analysts say that re-enlistment and unauthorized absences remain major problems.

President Ashraf Ghani said in Switzerland last week 45,000 members of the Afghan security forces had been killed since he took office in 2014, a figure analysts said helped explain morale problems.

“That number indicates that in those roughly 53 months, around 849 Afghan security personnel have been killed per month on average,” SIGAR said.

SIGAR also released figures suggesting the recruitment and retention of women in the national defense and security forces was a significant challenge.

Citing information declassified by U.S. Forces-Afghanistan, SIGAR said Afghan forces had 4,735 female personnel – less than 2 percent of current assigned strength.

With Inputs from Reuters.

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Islamic Emirate’s army now self-sufficient, says chief of army staff

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Mohammad Fasihuddin Fitrat, Chief of General Staff of the Armed Forces, says that over the past four years, the army forces of the Islamic Emirate have shown no hesitation in defending and protecting Afghanistan, and that today the country’s army is standing on its own feet.

According to a statement from the Ministry of Defense, Fitrat made these remarks at a meeting with media representatives, political analysts, and a number of government officials aimed at coordination and strengthening cooperation. He added: “Nations that cannot stand on their own feet and rely on others, even if they grow, will not be capable of achieving real progress.”

Fitrat also expressed appreciation for the role of the media in ensuring security and in supporting the country’s defense forces, stating: “We and you, as citizens of this land, must put our hands together and build the country together, take pride in our forces, and strive with all our strength for the country’s development. We have created an army that defends honor, territorial integrity, and the borders of the country, and serves as the guardian of our freedom.”

He emphasized that the Islamic Emirate is working to establish an army equipped with modern weapons so that it can defend the country’s territory under all circumstances.

He stated that the country’s army has proven to the people that anyone who looks at this land with ill intent will face a firm and courageous response, and that it has also been made clear to neighboring countries that any aggression against Afghanistan will be met with a response several times stronger.

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Afghan health minister attends second WHO summit in India

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Noor Jalal Jalali, the Minister of Public Health of the Islamic Emirate, participated in the second World Health Organization meeting on traditional medicine during his official visit to India.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the Ministry of Public Health said that the meeting was held in India with the participation of representatives from around 100 countries, health ministers from 23 countries, professional experts from various nations, and officials from different departments of the World Health Organization.

During the meeting, discussions were held on the standardization of traditional medicine, training of individuals active in this field, recognition of traditional medicine as an established reality, and the sharing of countries’ experiences in this area.

The ministry stated that the purpose of participating in the conference was to standardize traditional medicine in Afghanistan, adding that for several decades this sector has been practiced in a non-standard manner and without a defined curriculum or clear principles.

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Afghanistan and Kyrgyzstan boost trade and digital finance ties

Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives.

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Afghanistan’s Deputy Prime Minister for Administrative Affairs, Abdul Salam Hanafi, has met with a high-level Kyrgyz delegation led by Minister of Economy and Commerce Bakhyt Sydykov to discuss expanding bilateral trade and strengthening cooperation in digital financial services.

During the meeting, Hanafi reaffirmed Afghanistan’s readiness to deepen ties with Kyrgyzstan, stressing the importance of developing electronic administration systems and modern banking channels to facilitate trade and financial transactions between the two countries.

Minister Sydykov, in turn, pledged the continuation of Kyrgyzstan’s humanitarian assistance to Afghanistan and highlighted his country’s interest in working together on e-governance initiatives. He also pointed to potential cooperation in areas such as the printing of securities and the development of electronic payment systems.

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