Tom Coghlan
The Telegraph
06 June 2005
Thousands of soldiers are deserting Afghanistan's new British- and American-trained national army, their morale undermined by poor conditions and the threat from the Taliban.
Since the 205th Afghan National Army corps became the first unit of the new national army to be deployed outside Kabul, joining US forces fighting the Taliban in the south of the country, half of its strength has deserted.
"Between 1,200 and 1,500 have run away since September," said one officer, speaking on condition of anonymity, at the 205th corps base near Kandahar. "Morale is going down fast. Four to six hundred soldiers have deserted in the last two months." The ANA has surprised many Afghans by successfully integrating the country's diverse ethnic factions, all of which were responsible for reciprocal human rights violations in the civil war of the 1990s.
But nationally, of 31,000 men who have been trained for the national army only 20,000 currently remain with their units. In line with plans for a reduction of foreign troop numbers the army is supposed to reach a target strength. The army is meanwhile under pressure to shoulder greater responsibility in the battle with the Taliban from a US military that is overstretched globally. The Bush administration hopes to start reducing its presence in the country next year.
Since March Afghan forces have lost dozens of men to roadside ambushes as the Taliban have confounded predictions of their imminent demise and survived the defection of dozens of mid-ranking members.
In Taliban stronghold provinces of Zabul, Uruzgan and Kandahar ANA troops, lacking the training, body armour and firepower of their US counterparts, are vulnerable to attack.
Morale has also been hit by rows over money. Afghanistan has no banking system so soldiers' families must wait for them to return from duty with their wages, which start at £40 a month.
It is a decent wage in Afghanistan but for many soldiers the delay is putting their families at risk of starvation. "Everybody wants to run away," said one sergeant. "We cannot tolerate this."
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Citation:
Tom Coghlan, "Afghans flee army over Taliban and low morale", The Telegraph, 09 June 2005. Original URL: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2005/06/09/wtal09.xml&sSheet=/news/2005/06/09/ixworld.html