Afghan army death rate spikes 30 per cent
5 Oct 2014 5:02 AM IST
A bigger worry than the increased deaths, though, is the havoc the military could unleash on the country if the army rips at its ethnic seams, an increased possibility as US and other NATO forces continue to draw down their forces, Afghan and American military experts say.
When the U.S. and other NATO-led forces withdraw all combat troops by December 31, the Afghan army will truly be on its own on the battlefield for the first time since the 2001 U.S. invasion. America has spent $62 billion since then to train and equip the country’s security forces, but Afghan military experts remain concerned that the army doesn’t have enough men or materiel.
‘They’re fighting, but they are suffering,’ said General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan’s former minister of defense and a current adviser to the president’s office. Some of those worries were mitigated on September 30, when the United States and Afghanistan signed a bilateral security agreement allowing about 10,000 American troops to remain in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan forces past the end of the year.
America’s NATO allies are expected to contribute a further 5,000 or so troops. A smaller U.S. Special Operations forces will also remain and actively go after extremists such as al Qaeda. More importantly, signing the deal assured the Afghan government of about $4.1 billion in U.S. and foreign funding that pays for everything from soldiers salaries, to their bullets and the fuel they use in their vehicles. Without the money, the Afghan security forces would have fallen apart in months.
The need for foreign support was evident this summer, the first where the Afghan army couldn’t rely on US bombers when it needed them most. The army’s death rate spiked 30 percent, Mr Wardak said, because of an increased number of battles and the army’s vulnerability to roadside bombs. That spike translates to about 450 additional deaths per year, about 1,800 deaths.
Despite the billions in aid, the army is hampered by a lack of large-scale fire power - including offensive air capabilities - little or no medical evacuation ability and not enough transport aircraft, Mr Wardak said. Keeping the Taliban at bay, he said, will be a ‘difficult task’ unless the U.S. continues to provide more fire power, he said.
When the U.S. and other NATO-led forces withdraw all combat troops by December 31, the Afghan army will truly be on its own on the battlefield for the first time since the 2001 U.S. invasion. America has spent $62 billion since then to train and equip the country’s security forces, but Afghan military experts remain concerned that the army doesn’t have enough men or materiel.
‘They’re fighting, but they are suffering,’ said General Abdul Rahim Wardak, Afghanistan’s former minister of defense and a current adviser to the president’s office. Some of those worries were mitigated on September 30, when the United States and Afghanistan signed a bilateral security agreement allowing about 10,000 American troops to remain in Afghanistan to train, advise and assist Afghan forces past the end of the year.
America’s NATO allies are expected to contribute a further 5,000 or so troops. A smaller U.S. Special Operations forces will also remain and actively go after extremists such as al Qaeda. More importantly, signing the deal assured the Afghan government of about $4.1 billion in U.S. and foreign funding that pays for everything from soldiers salaries, to their bullets and the fuel they use in their vehicles. Without the money, the Afghan security forces would have fallen apart in months.
The need for foreign support was evident this summer, the first where the Afghan army couldn’t rely on US bombers when it needed them most. The army’s death rate spiked 30 percent, Mr Wardak said, because of an increased number of battles and the army’s vulnerability to roadside bombs. That spike translates to about 450 additional deaths per year, about 1,800 deaths.
Despite the billions in aid, the army is hampered by a lack of large-scale fire power - including offensive air capabilities - little or no medical evacuation ability and not enough transport aircraft, Mr Wardak said. Keeping the Taliban at bay, he said, will be a ‘difficult task’ unless the U.S. continues to provide more fire power, he said.
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