Arms sent by US to Afghan forces end up in Taliban hands: report
WASHINGTON, May 20: Pentagon munitions have leaked from Afghan forces to Taliban militants, enabling them to fight an insurgency for years against materially superior US and Afghan forces, The New York Times reported on Tuesday.
According to a Times study of ammunition markings, of the 30 rifle magazines removed from the corpses of insurgents in eastern Afghanistan last month at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, ‘identical’ to ammunition the United States has provided to Afghan government forces.
Although “the scope of that diversion remains unknown,” the newspaper warned that “poor discipline and outright corruption among Afghan forces might have helped insurgents stay supplied” in the wake of “only spotty” US and Afghan controls of weapons and ammunition sent to Afghanistan.
Following criticism for failing to account for thousands of rifles provided to Afghan security forces, some of which have been found in the hands of militants, the Pentagon launched a database documenting small arms supplied to Afghan units.
And the US-led Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, which is responsible for training and supplying Afghan forces, has said it has prioritised accounting for all Afghan military and police property.
“The emphasis from our perspective is on accountability of all logistics property,” the transition command’s deputy chief, Brigadier General Anthony Ierardi, told the newspaper. Leakage of Pentagon-supplied armaments to insurgents is an “absolutely worst-case scenario,” he said.—AFP
According to a Times study of ammunition markings, of the 30 rifle magazines removed from the corpses of insurgents in eastern Afghanistan last month at least 17 contained cartridges, or rounds, ‘identical’ to ammunition the United States has provided to Afghan government forces.
Although “the scope of that diversion remains unknown,” the newspaper warned that “poor discipline and outright corruption among Afghan forces might have helped insurgents stay supplied” in the wake of “only spotty” US and Afghan controls of weapons and ammunition sent to Afghanistan.
Following criticism for failing to account for thousands of rifles provided to Afghan security forces, some of which have been found in the hands of militants, the Pentagon launched a database documenting small arms supplied to Afghan units.
And the US-led Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, which is responsible for training and supplying Afghan forces, has said it has prioritised accounting for all Afghan military and police property.
“The emphasis from our perspective is on accountability of all logistics property,” the transition command’s deputy chief, Brigadier General Anthony Ierardi, told the newspaper. Leakage of Pentagon-supplied armaments to insurgents is an “absolutely worst-case scenario,” he said.—AFP
0 comments