A new report released by the research arm of the U.S. Congress on Wednesday criticized the U.S. government's negligence in building Afghanistan's army and police force.
The report by the Government Accountability Office (GAO) said the Pentagon and the State Department have so far made no detailed plans and cost estimates for building capable and self-sustaining forces for Afghanistan.
It said that although the U.S. government approved more than 10 billion U.S. dollars over the past six years for training Afghan forces, the results are far from satisfying.
According to the GAO's estimates, only two out of 105 Afghan army units are considered fully capable, while none of the 433 Afghan police units is considered fully capable of performing its mission.
Assistant Secretary of State David Johnson acknowledged that training and equipping Afghanistan's police has been challenging.
But Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman took a different view on the issue.
"With respect to the Afghan National Security Force Development Program, we believe that it's well-reasoned, that it is a successful program that's building on the Afghan government's capacity to respond to the insurgency, provide stability and implement the rule of law throughout Afghanistan," he said.
U.S. lawmakers sharply criticized the government on the findings of the report.
Source:Xinhua
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