Afghanistan National Security Forces (ANSF): Routed and Collapsing
24 January 2017
By Shahamat Emarat
American authorities state that they are concerned over the disappearance of
dozens ANSF officers that came to the U.S. for military training.
This statement was made by Pentagon spokesperson, Adam Stump. He states that
44 Afghan officers went missing after they were brought to the United States
for training. He added that while soldiers of other nations also go AWOL while
here however the number of missing Afghans is very concerning and out of the
ordinary. The spokesman added that hence forth they will look at ways to
strengthen screening procedures to prevent future desertions.
In reality the disappearance of a few dozen soldiers is not such that it
should cause anxiety for the Americans. Rather this is the symptom of a larger
problem. America has spent billions of dollars training a security force to
mentally and physically serve American interests. Yet at the earliest
opportunity these soldiers abandon their ranks.
The Americans have come to realize that all their blood, treasure, tears and
sweat in Afghanistan was for naught since the soldiers they wanted to leave
behind to continue their fight are of the worst quality. Current estimates
suggest that every day between 65 and 75 government employees including
soldiers abandon their ranks and either go missing or worst – join the
Taliban.
These numbers only reflect desertions, as for those that die or are routed in
battle or are killed as a result of insider attacks then those numbers are
even higher. The failure of the ANSF is a depressing site and understandably
the Pentagon will express its despair through such statements. Over the last
few days we have seen hundreds of soldiers in Konduz, Baghlan, Jowzjan,
Badghis, Farah and Helmand either join the Taliban ranks or abandon their
posts and go AWOL or completely desert their forces. It will not be an
exaggeration to say that over the past week entire brigades have simply
disappeared.
A few days ago a ANSF commander by the name of Toofan stated that: ''I prayed
to Allah to guide me to a righteous and just path. And so it was with the help
of Allah Almighty that I decided to abandon the ranks of the infidels and
joined the Mujahideen. So I – along with dozens of my comrades – left our
security post and surrendered to the Taliban''. He added that ''I am fully
correct in declaring that the infidels can never be the true friends of
Afghans. I will fight against them till my last breath.''
The Enemy seeks to Punish Civilians for their Losses
The barbaric and cowardly enemy seeks to avenge their losses by killing
ordinary civilians, indiscriminately bombing their homes, looting their
personal belongings, imprisoning and torturing civilians, and generally
persecuting them.
Over the last few days as the Mujahideen have captured large areas in Konduz
province and forced the retreat of enemy forces from the city, the regime
forces have retaliated by indiscriminately bombing the city, targeting
civilian homes, commercial centers and even social development infrastructures
such as schools. This indiscriminate and illegal targeting of city structures
has caused large scale damage and spilled much innocent blood.
For example last night, eye witnesses spoke to media outlets stating that
aerial bombardment in Bagh Shirkat area killed and injured 20 people – all
civilians – and demolished civilian homes.
Two days ago regime mortar fire and aerial bombardment targeted a large market
in the city's Imam Saheb Bandar area, destroying food stocks and inflicting
heavy financial losses to civilians.
A day before that regime bombardment hit a large carpet bazaar causing
products to go up in flames and inflicting millions of dollars' worth of
damages.
When Taliban fighters first entered Konduz city the regime forces responded by
targeting the electricity distribution station and other electricity
infrastructure.
The regime forces – despite foreign backing and modern equipment – are unable
to face the Taliban in frontal battles, their morale has sunk to its lowest
level yet, they abandon their fortified bases, their retreat is more akin to a
frenzied flight, and they leave behind enormous amounts of weaponry and
equipment to fall into Taliban hands.
So far the Taliban have established peace in the captured city, they have
prevented looting and enabled citizens to attain their basic necessities from
local warehouses.
Because the enemy seeks to portray the Taliban as a destructive force,
incapable of establishing order and peace – which is ironic and amusing when
we compare the Taliban's rule and the current regime's – they will
deliberately target civilians and non-military structures simply to sow chaos
and anarchy. It is only convenient that by doing thus they are also
retaliating against a populace that is fed up with the regime's incompetency
and willing to welcome an alternative order.