“Roughly 40% of the total [300,000 security forces] consisted of Afghan National Police (ANP) whose forces varied sharply in quality, were largely conventional police and could not play an effective paramilitary role or properly hold even supposedly secure areas,” writes Anthony Cordesman of the Center for the strategic and International Studies in a report published this week on the Afghan military’s collapse. “These ANP totaled 96,788 in October 2019; 121,088 in January 2021; and dropped to 118,628 in April 2021. Some fought bravely in the period before U.S. force cuts began, but most collapsed or deserted in the face of any serious Taliban action, and significant numbers deserted or changed sides when the Taliban took control over a given District.”

Source: Washington Post August 18, 2021 07:01 UTC