Afghan security forces trained by the United States are struggling to maintain territory and launch offensives against the Taliban, a situation that could worsen if President Obama orders a full troop withdrawal in 2016, the New York Times reports.
Desertions of Afghan troops and casualties are already mounting at the start of the country’s fighting season:
Several Afghan officers described desertion as such a problem that soldiers and police officers in some critical areas have simply been barred from returning home on leave, keeping them on the front lines for months straight.
And after a casualty rate last year that the previous American commander called unsustainable, the numbers this year are even worse: up more than 50 percent compared with the first six months of 2014. About 4,100 Afghan soldiers and police officers have been killed, and about 7,800 wounded, according to statistics provided by an official with the American-led coalition here.
A range of interviews with army and police commanders and regional government officials in crucial battleground areas indicated that even though the Afghan forces have nominally met their goal of maintaining a presence in every city and all but a very few district centers, they are often functionally penned in by the Taliban, rarely mounting patrols, much less taking territory back.
At the same time, they say the insurgents have increased their influence in many areas, even near cities, giving them the ability to move freely and mount intensified attacks on the Afghan forces.
"We are in a passive defense mode—we are not chasing the enemy," said a retired Afghan lieutenant general, Abdul Hadi Khalid. "Units get surrounded, and we don’t send them support, so they are killed."
The Islamic State (IS) terrorist group has also established a presence in Afghanistan. Gen. John Campbell, U.S. commander in Afghanistan, said on Sunday that IS is "operationally emergent" in the country.