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Spot Check Reveals Huge Gap in ANA Personnel Accountability
According to the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), 10 to 60 percent personnel of the Afghan army were not present at work when a personnel accountability audit was conducted in several bases.
The watchdog released a new quarterly report to the United States Congress last week.
In a part of the report which focuses on ANDSF personnel accountability, the U.S. Special Inspector General John F. Sopko said that an audit was conducted at units within the ANA’s 201st, 203rd, and 205th Corps to verify whether all soldiers and officers entered into the system were present at each location.
“The ANA PAA results showed that at best 10%, and at worst 60%, of the personnel reported to exist in those ANA units were not present for duty at the time of the audit,” the report said.
SIGAR believe that “not present can mean a number of things, including absent without leave, dropped from rolls, killed in action, wounded, transferred, separated from the force, retired, out on mission, assigned temporary duty elsewhere, or on leave.”
“There are regiments with 650 personnel on roster while physically there might be less than 200 people. The brigades are vacant. Therefore, forces have retreated from checkpoints in highways. The enemy has inflicted heavy casualties that is why the personnel roster is not matching with the number of forces on duty,” Javid Kohistani, a Kabul-based military commentator told Ariana News.
Zabihullah Atiq, a lawmaker from northern Badakhshan province further claimed that the absence of senior officials at the battlefields have weakened the spirit of soldiers.
“Senior officials are not present in units. The company and regiments commanders are not present in battlefields,” MP Atiq said.
Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said the report is “incorrect.”
“Less than 10 percent of the personnel are absent,” Sediqqi responded to a question in this regard.
This comes as Afghan forces are battling the Taliban insurgent group across the country to force the group’s political leaders to enter into talks with the government negotiators.
The deputy prime minister for policy, Mawlavi Abdul Kabir, met with Nooruddin Azizi, Acting Minister of Commerce and Industry, at Sapidar Palace on Tuesday and discussed issues around the quality of domestic products and the need to grow and develop the industrial sector.
Azizi said that good trade relations with neighboring countries has resulted in stable prices of goods in the country.
He said the Ministry of Commerce and Industry works closely with the private sector. As a result, the private sector functions in a befitting manner and the Islamic Emirate has provided necessary facilities.
Azizi said that based on the Islamic Emirate’s good economic policies, there has been a significant development in the import/export sector in the country.
Kabir in turn voiced appreciation for efforts by the leadership of the Ministry of Commerce and Industry and said: “The unprecedented efforts of the IEA’s administrations and the stability of the Afghan currency caused the price of food ingredients to remain in the right state and our people also be able to buy essential materials.”
He emphasized the need to work for a balance in trade with neighboring countries, and said more efforts were needed to improve the quality of domestic products and to grow the sector.
Russia and Tajikistan conducted a joint four-day military exercise along the border with Afghanistan in order to be prepared for any “potential threats”, Tajik media reported this week.
Russian military personnel from the 201st military base in Tajikistan participated in this exercise. Reports stated military personnel practiced various combat tactics, especially tactics to counter terrorist groups that illegally enter Tajikistan.
This comes amid repeated concerns expressed by Afghanistan’s neighbors about what they claim are terrorist threats originating from Afghanistan.
The Islamic Emirate has not yet commented on the drills but has repeatedly denied the presence of terrorist groups in the country. The IEA has also continuously said no militant group will be allowed to threaten another country from Afghanistan.
The Media Violations Commission has ordered Noor and Barya TV channels to stop broadcasting and to appear in court, state-run Bakhtar News Agency reported on Tuesday.
ّIt is said that the decision against the channels was taken for “not observing the principles of journalism.”
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