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Sept 3 (Reuters) - The U.S.-trained Afghan pilots and others held at a camp in Uzbekistan already feared being sent back to Taliban-ruled Afghanistan. So it was little comfort when an Uzbek guard unsympathetically quipped the other day: "You can't stay here forever." The offhand warning added to an already grinding sense of unease at the camp just across Afghanistan's northern border, recounted one of the Afghan pilots who fled there with aircraft when ground forces fell to the Taliban in August as the United states and its allies withdrew their forces. What follows is the first, detailed inside account...

Ever since US announced withdrawal of troop, Taliban went on a rampage to seize one district after another. A Taliban spokesperson asserted that most of these provinces were seized by them without a battle. Taliban’s rapid advance made clear that US efforts to turn Afghan military into a robust, independent fighting force have failed. Built over 20 years, how did Afghan army collapse? Why did Afghan forces not resist Taliban? How did Kabul fall despite the well trained Afghan army? The Play by Play of the Collapse

The Pentagon spent $88 billion dollars training the Afghan Army for 20 years It collapsed in 1 month Not one general or politician will face consequences for this. https://twitter.com/JackPosobiec/status/1425923773199495176

KABUL March 16 2011 – Afghan National Security and International Security Assistance Forces captured two Haqqani network facilitators and detained several suspected insurgents, during security operations in Sabari district, Khost province, yesterday. According to ISAF detail one facilitator was responsible for the transfer of weapons and ammunition, as well as reporting on Afghan and coalition force movements. He also managed supply routes and provided financial, media and logistical support to the network. The second facilitator provided operational support for the network and acquired equipment for use in attacks. Intelligence reports led the security force to the targeted compound, where they...

KABUL—The fledgling Afghan National Army has been created from scratch by the U.S. and its allies. But, at least in its senior ranks, it increasingly resembles an Afghan army of old—one the U.S. helped rout two decades ago. The Afghan government is dominated by former mujahedeen guerrillas; both the minister of defense and the army chief of staff are former anti-Soviet insurgents. Most ANA generals and colonels appointed to serve just below them, however, are veterans of the Soviet-built Afghan military that hunted these insurgents through the 1980s. (continued)

ONE of the many great things I took from my Army career was the rule that "the maximum effective range of an excuse is zero meters." But excuses are all we have in Afghanistan. Among the worst of the countless follies that make an old soldier sick is the endless excuse-making for the sloth and cowardice of the Afghan National Army and the extortion culture of the Afghan Police -- while Taliban warriors fight to the bitter end. The bottom line is that Taliban fighters are willing to die for their cause, while the Afghan soldiers we've tried to train...

KABUL: An Afghan army helicopter crashed yesterday, killing a senior Afghan general and 12 other men. The helicopter came down in poor weather in western Afghanistan in the worst crash for the fledgling army that began forming after the Taliban regime was toppled in a US-led invasion in late 2001. It had been carrying a delegation of senior Afghan National Army officers, including the commander of Zafar military corps, General Fazel Ahmad Sayar, from the western city of Herat to an army base in adjoining Farah province, defence officials said. The helicopter hit a mountain peak in dense fog, the...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 12, 2008 – Afghan and coalition forces today killed four militants after being ambushed in an area near Afghanistan’s western border, where a Norwegian provincial reconstruction team was ambushed last week, military officials said. Today’s ambush took place as Afghan and coalition forces were en route to a meeting with village leaders in the Ghormach district of Badghis province, where they were going to assess the needs of villagers and coordinate humanitarian assistance. The combined forces were attacked with rocket-propelled grenades, small-arms and mortar fire, officials said. As enemy forces began reinforcing and maneuvering on the patrol, Afghan...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Nov. 10, 2008 – After six months of planning, Afghan National Army officials, in conjunction with Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan and International Security, put into action their combined efforts for the ANA’s first six-day command post exercise, or CPX, at the Ministry of Defense compound here, beginning Nov 1. Army Maj. Gen. Robert W. Cone, commander of Combined Transition Security Command Afghanistan, congratulates participants at the closing ceremony of a six-day command post exercise at the Ministry of Defense compound in Kabul, Afghanistan, Nov. 6, 2008. U.S. Navy photo by Petty Officer 1st Class Douglas Mappin  (Click...

WASHINGTON, Oct. 27, 2008 – The mood of Afghan citizens has changed dramatically in the past year due to the progress the Afghan security forces have made, a senior military official said Oct. 24. “I’ve seen a lot of progress here in the Afghan army and police,” Army Col. Bill Hix, commander of Afghan Regional Security Integration Command South, said to bloggers during a teleconference. While the Afghan army has had about five years to develop, Hix said, the Afghan police didn’t really start to reform until last summer, when U.S. troops began to mentor them. Progress has been gained...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8, 2008 – The government of Afghanistan has proposed to nearly double the size of its army over the next five years, senior Pentagon officials said here today. If the Afghan proposal is realized, the Afghan National Army would increase its ranks from about 65,000 soldiers presently to about 120,000 troops over the next five years, Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told reporters. “This new Afghan plan, we think, has merit,” Whitman said. “But, it also will have some costs associated with it, too.” The Afghan army is slated to grow to about 80,000 soldiers sometime next year, Whitman...

WASHINGTON, Aug. 7, 2008 – In an effort to bolster the Afghan National Police, U.S. forces in southern Afghanistan recruited and sent a record 500 Afghan citizens to eight weeks of focused district development training, a military official said Aug. 6. “No other regions in the country have recruited nearly that amount during a training cycle,” Army Col. John Cuddy, commander of the Regional Police Advisory Command South said during a call with online journalists and bloggers. Due to the level of insurgent activity, Cuddy said, southern Afghanistan is the main effort in the fight against the enemies of Afghanistan....

KABUL (Reuters) - Afghan soldiers killed "dozens" of militants, including foreigners, in a clash on a highway in southern Zabul province on Thursday, the defence ministry said. The clash broke out following reports of an ambush by the insurgents in Zabul, the ministry said in a statement. "Thirty-four bodies of terrorists, among them a number of foreigners, have been collected from the battlefield," it said, adding some ammunitions were also seized. It did not say if there were any casualties among the Afghan troops. The interior ministry said police forces were also involved and put the number of Taliban deaths...

WASHINGTON, March 26, 2008 – The Afghan National Army will assume a leading role in the fight against enemy forces this spring, a military official said in Kabul, Afghanistan, yesterday. Enemy activity has been down in recent months due to the harsh winter weather in Afghanistan, but violence has historically increased when conditions improve in the spring, U.S. Army Maj. Gen. Robert Cone, commander of Combined Security Transition Command Afghanistan, said during a conference call with online journalists and “bloggers.” Cone said the coalition was very productive in generating Afghan forces during the enemy’s downtime. “The Afghan National Army decided...

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2, 2007 – Afghan National Army soldiers assisted by coalition advisors have completely wiped out Taliban insurgents in a key southern province, a coalition commander said today. “My assessment of the threat in this province is that the insurgency has suffered a total defeat this summer due to the combined efforts of the ANA and coalition forces,” Army Lt. Col. Karl Slaughenhaupt told online journalists and “bloggers” during a conference call from the tiny Afghan town of Qalat. Slaughenhaupt is senior advisor to 2nd Brigade, 205th Corps, of the Afghan National Army. He and his coalition team members...

WASHINGTON, Sept. 1, 2007 – The tense paratroopers and Afghan National Army soldiers sat in silence surrounded by darkness. Scouts of the 173rd Airborne Brigade's 2nd Battalion, 503rd Infantry Regiment, react as villagers below run after spotting the soldiers moving on the hillside during Operation Destined Strike in Chowkay Valley, Afghanistan Aug. 22, 2007. U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Brandon Aird  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. The previous hours were spent huddled together rehearsing the mission, "Destined Strike," which was to be an air-assault into the Taliban's backyard. The whoop, whoop, whoop sound of the CH-47 "Chinook" helicopter's...

Senior al Qaeda leader may have been wounded in the ongoing battle at Tora Bora The battle at the Tora Bora mountains in Nangarhar province has completed its first week, the fighting has intensified as Afghan Army and US forces hunt Taliban and al Qaeda fighters who have infiltrated the region. Scores of Taliban and al Qaeda operatives are reported to have been captured after upwards of 50 terrorists were killed in the initial fighting. A senior al Qaeda leader was also reported to have been wounded in the attack. Dr. Amin al Haq, who serves as Osama bin Laden's...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - Toting obsolete equipment and an arsenal dating back to the Soviet era, the Afghan National Army says it's waiting for modern weapons promised by Defence Minister Gordon O'Connor. The Afghan army, which Canada is counting on to take over fighting against the Taliban in coming months, still has yet to receive C-7 assault rifles and ammunition the Canadian government pledged to deliver, said Lt.-Col. Sherinshaw Khobandi. In Ottawa, a Defence Ministry spokesman confirmed that supplies for the Afghan National Army are planned, but declined to specify a date when they will be delivered. Khobandi said O'Connor...

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 7, 2007 – Elements of the 1st Brigade, 205th Afghan National Army Corps, along with coalition forces, repelled more than 75 enemy fighters who were attempting to overrun Firebase Anaconda in Oruzgan province this morning. The insurgents attacked the firebase from three sides, using small-arms fire, rocket-propelled grenades and 107 mm rockets at daybreak, military officials said. The combined Afghan and coalition forces used small-arms, machine-gun and mortar fire to repel the enemy advance. Close air support was called in to destroy the enemy fighters. Almost two dozen insurgents were confirmed killed in the attack. Four Afghan...

KANDAHAR, Afghanistan (CP) - With Canada's top military brass feeling comfortable with their tactics on the ground in Afghanistan, Chief of Defence staff Gen. Rick Hillier said his first priority now is to bolster the country's national security forces. Hillier and the top leadership of the Canadian forces met over the weekend in Kandahar for discussions on the state of Canada's military efforts in Afghanistan as the clock ticks toward the February 2009 deadline for the mission. "What we said is what can we do right now, we've still got a long way to go in the present mandate, as...