Afghan Army to Expand Surveillance Drone Bases to Five Provinces

Afghan Army to expand unmanned surveillance drone bases to five provinces in the country, the Defense Ministry said Saturday.

The new bases will be established in southern Kandahar, eastern Nangarhar and western Herat cities with support of coalition advisors said Dawlat Waziri, a Spokesman for the Defense Ministry.

The bases are expected to supply surveillance and intelligence information as currently the government forces heavily reliant on international aircraft for the same purpose.

The government launched the first ScanEagle unmanned aircraft  in April last year.

Currently, the surveillance drone bases are  in southern Helmand, which has seen heavy fighting and in Mazar-i-Sharif City of northern Balkh province.

As part of the new strategy, the U.S. has pledged to support Afghan military, mainly the air forces.

“Steps are underway for strengthening the [capability] of security forces and more aircrafts will be handed over to Afghan army,” Waziri said.

This comes as Afghan forces recently received four American Black Hawk helicopters; its numbers are expected to rise up to 150 by 2020.

By Shakib Mahmud and Ahmad Farshad Saleh