[ad_1]
In his quarterly report to the US Congress, the Special Inspector General for Reconstruction of Afghanistan (SIGAR) said: "The Taliban are now controlling more territory than ever since 2001".
The Afghan government currently controls or influences only 55.5 percent of districts in the country, the lowest level since SIGAR began monitoring district controls in November 2015.
Translated into simple terms, the report measures the "control" – in which one side occupies an area – and "the influence" – in which one side has the upper hand.
As of November 2015, the Afghan government controlled 72 percent of the country's districts, but controlled more than 56 percent. The influence or control of insurgents has increased from only 7% to 12.5% of districts and about one third of Afghanistan is a "disputed" area.
The official figures provide insight into the release of the Afghan army in the face of a determined and sustained Taliban insurgency and the gloomy prospects for US engagement in the war, which is now in its 17th year.
The civilian deaths to a record level
As the Taliban continues to slightly increase its territorial impact, the number of civilian deaths continues to grow.
Between 1 January and 30 September, 313 civilians were killed and 335 injured only during US-backed airstrikes – a 39 per cent increase over 2017, according to the report, citing UNAMA data.
Resolute Support, the largest non-NATO-led training and advisory mission, said that far fewer civilians had died as a result of air strikes, reporting 102 deaths between January and August 15, 2018.
Losing strength
The Afghan National Security Forces (ANDSF), tasked with defending the war-ravaged country against persistent insurgency, have struggled to keep their personnel in place, saying a multi-billion dollar training program funded by the United States failed.
The ANDSF lacks about 40,000 people – or 11% – of its 352,000 target people.
No explanation has been provided for the decline of these figures, although the growth of the insurgency in recent years has likely resulted in the death of many members of the police or the army, or contributed to the decision of others leave the forces.
The US Department of Justice has also expressed concerns about the performance of the Afghan Attorney General, citing corruption and "unproductive, corrupt and favoritism" practices.
Earlier this month, the Afghans were hoping that the notoriously corrupt and ineffective political system in Afghanistan could be reworked as they voted in a vote that had already been delayed for three years for security reasons. .
But the days leading up to the vote were marked by violence.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack on the powerful police chief of Kandahar province, General Abdul Raziq Achakzai, on 18 October. A few hours after his death, they issued another statement warning Afghans not to participate in what they called "an American project from start to finish."
According to the Taliban message, the group intended to close all the country's "main and secondary roads" and urged Afghans to stay inside. "We do not want to harm a common Afghan and therefore ask the public, and in particular the townspeople, not to participate or vote in the elections," he said.
Abdul Jabar Qahraman, a candidate for parliament in Helmand province, was killed with three others by a bomb in his campaign office a few days before the elections.
After voting, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani thanked the security forces, the election officials and the citizens who made the election possible "despite the risks involved".
Nick Paton Walsh and Ali M. Latifi of CNN contributed to this report.
[ad_2]Source link