Before pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse

KABUL, Afghanistan — Months earlier President Joe Biden announced the U.S.’s implicit withdrawal from Afghanistan past year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan aerial unit would illness without captious American aid, grooming and maintenance. The study was declassified Tuesday.

The study by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko, submitted to the Department of Defense successful January 2021, underscores that American authorities had been alerted that Afghanistan’s aerial unit did not person the capabilities to past aft a U.S. withdrawal. In particular, the study points to U.S. nonaccomplishment to bid Afghan enactment staff, leaving the aerial unit incapable to support its craft without American contractors.

U.S. aerial enactment to authorities forces was cardinal successful the 20-year-war against Taliban insurgents. Its removal — on with the inability of the Afghan aerial unit to capable the void — was 1 origin that contributed to the Taliban’s sweeping triumph arsenic the Americans withdrew.

The inspector general’s bureau told The Associated Press connected Monday that it is uncommon for SIGAR reports to beryllium classified but erstwhile they are, a declassified mentation is issued by the Pentagon successful nether 2 months. The bureau said it did not cognize wherefore it took the Defense Department much than a twelvemonth earlier declassifying this peculiar report, oregon wherefore it did truthful now, 5 months aft the Taliban took power.

SIGAR has tracked and documented Washington’s spending and advancement successful Afghanistan since the bureau was established successful 2008. It has released successive reports that documented corruption, Afghan and U.S. enactment failings and weaknesses wrong the Afghan army, offering recommendations connected wherever to improve.

Since the 2001 U.S-led penetration that ousted the Taliban and during the agelong warfare that ensued, Washington spent much than $145 cardinal connected reconstruction successful Afghanistan and astir $1 trillion connected its subject engagement. Billions went to gathering up the Afghan subject forces.

Biden announced successful April that the past 2,500-3,500 U.S. troops would permission on with NATO’s 7,500 troops, pursuing a woody reached with the Taliban by the Trump administration. The announcement started a accelerated illness of the Afghan defence forces.

The Taliban’s expanse done the state was swift, with galore areas falling without a combat arsenic Afghan troops — galore of whom had not received their salaries from the Afghan authorities successful months — fled. Afghan warplanes continued to deed Taliban positions successful immoderate areas successful June and July past year, but it was not capable to stem the tide.

The Taliban entered Kabul connected Aug. 15 aft U.S.-backed President Ashraf Ghani fled the capital. By the extremity of August, the U.S. completed its chaotic departure and the evacuation of tens of thousands of Afghans, marked by images of young men clinging to departing U.S. craft for an accidental to unrecorded successful the U.S. and fly the Taliban’s harsh and restrictive rule.

Over the preceding months, Afghan officials had warned that the aerial unit was not capable to basal connected its own. Ata Mohammed Noor, a almighty warlord successful bluish Afghanistan who was a cardinal U.S. state successful the 2001 decision of the Taliban, said the fleet was overused and under-maintained.

“Most of the planes are backmost connected the ground. They cannot alert and astir of them are retired of ammunition,” helium said.

The recently declassified SIGAR study says that betwixt 2010 and 2019, the U.S. spent $8.5 cardinal “to enactment and develop” the Afghan aerial unit and its elite unit, the Special Mission Wing. But the study warns that some are ill-prepared. It besides warns against removing the hundreds of U.S. contractors who maintained the craft fleet.

According to the report, NATO and the U.S. switched successful 2019 from gathering the aerial unit to making definite it had a accidental astatine semipermanent survival.

But Sopko gave their efforts a failing grade, saying the Afghan aerial unit hadn’t been capable to get the qualified unit needed to acceptable itself connected the roadworthy to independence.

He said a operation of U.S. and NATO subject personnel, arsenic good arsenic U.S.-funded contractors, had focused connected grooming pilots but had not prioritized grooming for 86% of Afghanistan Air unit personnel, including its enactment staff.

Even arsenic the U.S. Department of Defense touted the Afghan aerial force’s advancement “in combat cognition capabilities, aviator and crushed unit proficiency, arsenic good arsenic air-to-ground integration,” Sopko said, they continued “to conflict with quality superior limitations, enactment challenges, craft misuse, and a dependence connected contractor logistic support.”

Follow Gannon, the Associated Press News Director for Afghanistan and Pakistan, connected Twitter: https://twitter.com/kathygannon