The Ashraf Ghani-led government in Afghanistan’s controls less than 60% of the country, a report by a United States watchdog agency has said. In its quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction said the country’s government was in control of only 57% of the country as of November 2016, a 15% decrease from the same time in 2015, Reuters reported.
“The numbers of the Afghan security forces are decreasing, while both casualties and the number of districts under insurgent control or influence are increasing,” Sigar’s report said. More than 10% of the country’s districts are under militant control, with security forces and militants contesting for the control of a further 33%, according to the report.
The 269-page-long quarterly report also noted that Washington’s $117 billion (approximately Rs 7.89 lakh crore) investment in the country since 2002 had only led to “tenuous and incomplete gains”, which were risking failure because of security lapses and corruption, Duetsche Welle reported.
Sigar Inspector General John Sopko said “Afghan security forces needed “continued donor support, plus mentoring and limited tactical support from the US military, to block insurgent advances”. “Likewise, the Afghan government cannot survive without continued donor financial assistance,” Sopko said.
Continued militant assaults have led to thousands of civilian and security casualties in the country. At least 6,785 Afghan soldiers died and another 11,777 were wounded between January 1 and November 12, 2016, according to the report. On January 10, at least 30 people were killed and 70 more were injured in twin explosions in Kabul. The Taliban claimed responsibility for the bombings.
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