The Taliban take over Afghanistan within a few days. How could this happen? The lack of resistance by the army plays a decisive role.
Kabul – The Taliban’s rapid takeover of power in Afghanistan * caused horror in the West. The Afghan army had little to oppose the fighters of the Taliban * and surrendered largely without a fight. The soldiers’ lack of morale was quickly mentioned. But the USA * and its allies have also made serious strategic mistakes in establishing and supporting the security forces in the country on the Hindu Kush.
The US goal was to build a powerful security force in Afghanistan. During the 20-year conflict, the country invested around US $ 83 billion in building, training and equipping the Afghan army. Their own armed forces served as a model.
Afghanistan: US strategy not adapted to local conditions
However, the high-tech military and structures did not match the local conditions. The Afghan soldiers – many of them illiterate – did not have the infrastructure to keep the technology running. In practice, this led to the dependence of the Afghan army on the western armed forces, for example for air support during operations, or the western technical experts for the maintenance of aircraft and combat helicopters.
The capabilities of the Afghan army have been mercilessly overestimated, says John Sopko, the US inspector general for the reconstruction of Afghanistan (Sigar). He is certain that the US military “knew how bad the Afghan army was”. The sophisticated weapon systems went beyond the capabilities of the soldiers, he wrote in a report for the US Congress.
Failure of the Afghan army: the number of soldiers was significantly lower than claimed by the USA
The number of Afghan soldiers has also been overestimated. The US Department of Defense assumed that the Afghan army was numerically superior to the Taliban: 300,000 members would have an army and police force, and the Taliban would have 70,000 fighters. The troop strength of the Afghan army was, however, significantly lower, so the assessment of the anti-terror center of the US military academy at West Point. According to an assessment, there were 185,000 soldiers or special forces, the rest were police officers and other security personnel. In addition, only 60% of the soldiers were trained for combat. The army strength is said to have been 96,000 people, according to West Point analysts.
The Afghan army also had a problem with high numbers of deserters. Every year around 25% of the soldiers had to be replaced. Many posts remained vacant. In addition, according to the Neue Zürcher Zeitung, commanders are said to have inflated the number of their troops in order to collect the wages of the deserters and fallen soldiers.
Afghan Army: Hardly any salary, no ammunition, no food
One possible reason for the many desertions by the Afghan army was the poor pay of the soldiers. For years the US Department of Defense paid salaries. After the announcement of the withdrawal of US troops, the task was transferred to the government in Kabul. The wages were low. Many soldiers complained that they had not received any wages for months. There were also supply problems. In addition to military equipment and ammunition, the Afghan soldiers lacked basic items such as shoes. The armed forces felt abandoned.
Failure of the Afghan army: abandoned by the west
The withdrawal of American soldiers and their allies ultimately ensured that many members of the Afghan army also felt that they had been left in the lurch. The Taliban, on the other hand, celebrated the agreement and the US withdrawal as a victory. Their propaganda should show that their victory was inevitable.
Against this background, the Taliban made arrangements to surrender provinces with soldiers, government officials and provincial governors. Negotiations ultimately led to victory, not so much military strength. (Max Schäfer with AFP) * fr.de is an offer from IPPEN.MEDIA
