Afghanistan seeks US continued aid to ANDSF

KABUL (Agencies): KABUL: Afghan National Security Advisor says that Afghanistan still needs US financial support to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces (ANDSF) not physical presence to counter narcotics and insecurity in the country.

Hamdullah Mohib cited the remarks in an interview with Hudson Institute of Washington, saying that the security forces are capable of defending their country. “We don’t have problems in ability. Our problems are now financial,” he said.
“Whatever is necessary should be guaranteed that we can preserve the Afghan national defense and security forces.”

He said that the government called on the US to continue its financial support to the Afghan security forces for a long time. This is as the US is considering whether to stay in Afghanistan or pull its troops out by May 1, however, several senior pentagon officials earlier expressed concerns on the earlier withdrawal of American forces from Afghanistan, citing the Taliban’s failure to fulfill commitments agreed on the US-Taliban peace deal signed on February 2020.

Under the deal, the Taliban are called to cut ties with the al-Qaeda terrorist network and the US pledged to withdraw troop by May1. Mohib suggested that if the US focused on supporting Afghan security forces instead of preserving troops in Afghanistan, both Kabul and Washington would benefit from it.

But the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction has recently voiced frustration on the existence of administrative corruption in the Afghan government.