Afghan government control and troop numbers at record lows
The Afghan government’s hold over the countryside continues to wane, while the numbers of its security forces have shrunk to a record low, a U.S. government watchdog said Wednesday.
The figures released amid unconfirmed reports that some American troops could be pulled out of the country as part of a cease-fire deal with the Taliban, represent a bleak assessment of U.S.-led efforts to make Afghan government forces self-sustainable. Over the weekend, U.S. officials concluded the latest round of peace negotiations with the Taliban, who are seeking a full withdrawal of foreign forces.
Kabul controlled just over half of Afghanistan’s roughly 400 districts as of Oct. 31, a slight drop since July, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said in its latest quarterly report, covering a three-month period ending Dec. 31, 2018.
During that time, government control or influence over Afghanistan’s population also fell slightly, with just 63 percent of citizens living in government-held areas, SIGAR said. Meanwhile, the number of districts and the amount of people controlled or influenced by the Taliban, and the number of areas contested by both sides increased during the last quarter, the report added.
Earlier this week, U.S. envoy Zalmay Khalilzad said an agreement had been reached in principal between the U.S. and the Taliban on a peace deal that would include the withdrawal of U.S. forces.
https://www.stripes.com/news/middle-east/afghan-government-control-and-troop-numbers-at-record-lows-report-says-1.566615
