November 10, 2021
2 mins read

‘Ghost soldiers failed Afghan army’

Former Afghan Finance Minister Khalid Payenda, who resigned and left the country as the Islamist group advanced, said records showing that security forces greatly outnumbered the Taliban were incorrect….reports Asian Lite News

 Another shocking revelation jolted the international community as the Afghanistan’s ex-Finance Minister has blamed the government’s fall on corrupt officials who invented “ghost soldiers” and took payments from the Taliban, BBC reported.

Khalid Payenda told the BBC that most of the 300,000 troops and police on the government’s books did not exist.

He said phantom personnel were added to official lists so that generals could pocket their wages, the report said.

The Taliban rapidly seized control of Afghanistan in August, as US forces withdrew after 20 years in the country.

Payenda, who resigned and left the country as the Islamist group advanced, said records showing that security forces greatly outnumbered the Taliban were incorrect.

“The way the accountability was done, you would ask the chief in that province how many people you have and based on that you could calculate salaries and ration expenses and they would always be inflated,” he told the BBC.

The former minister said the numbers may have been inflated by more than six times, and included “desertions (and) martyrs who were never accounted for because some of the commanders would keep their bank cards” and withdraw their salaries, he alleged.

Afghan national army soldiers take part in an operation against Taliban militants in Kunduz city, Afghanistan. (Photo by Ajmal Kakar_Xinhua_IANS)

A 2016 report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (Sigar) claimed that “neither the United States nor its Afghan allies know how many Afghan soldiers and police actually exist, how many are in fact available for duty, or, by extension, the true nature of their operational capabilities”.

In a more recent report, Sigar expressed “serious concerns about the corrosive effects of corruption… and the questionable accuracy of data on the actual strength of the force”.

Payenda said that troops who did exist were often not paid on time, while there were generals who were “double-dipping” – taking their government wage, and then also accepting payments from the Taliban to give up without a fight.

ALSO READ: Worst crisis on earth: UN on Afghanistan humanitarian situation

ALSO READ: NSA meet sees call for greater regional cooperation

Previous Story

Adnan Sami proud of the great honour

Next Story

Biden, Xi to hold virtual meet next week

Latest from -Top News

UN rights body condemns Rwanda 

The decision by the Human Rights Council was requested by Congo and agreed to by consensus, meaning no vote was taken….reports Asian Lite News The UN’s top human rights body on Friday

Trump cuts aid to South Africa 

South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement that there seemed to be a “campaign of misinformation and propaganda”  The US president, Donald Trump, has signed an executive order to cut financial
Go toTop

Don't Miss

Ease Visa Process For Afghan Women And Girls, Amnesty Tells France

Over 4500 people have requested France to grant visas to

Afghan activists in US protest against ‘Pak-sponsored Taliban’

The demonstrators also called upon the Biden administration and the