KABUL (SW): General John Francis Campbell, commander of the Resolute Support Mission and United States Forces in Afghanistan has said those politicizing issues to weaken the Government of National Unity actually strengthening the Taliban.
Talking to a group of journalists at the RSM headquarters here on Wednesday, the US Gen. said that the militants have no mercy for any ethnicity and should be dealt with unity in ranks among the Afghans.
“People ask one thing, how can I support the government, the army is about 25, 000 short, support your government by joining the army to protect your country against the militants”, urging the need for support to the government he said. The RSM commander further said that youngsters who have the knowledge of English language have very good chances to join the emerging air force of the country since all the training manuals come in English.
He said Afghanistan reaching for regional countries for military aid was OK. “That will help mitigate over time until I can continue to bring in more fixed-wing bombers and more helicopters, we have got Afghans training in the US to fly those and maintain those”, the US General said, adding first shipment would arrive next month.
To a question, he affirmed that there exist some ghost personnel, particularly in the Afghan Local Police (ALP). About the numbers, he said there the Afghan security force comprises of some 350, 000 of army and policemen plus 30, 000 ALP men. Stressing upon the need to further train and equip the police, he added about 157, 000 policemen are serving that were actually trained as community police but are now fighting on the frontline against the militants.
Gen. Campbell noted that the leadership at the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior need to take care of the men in terms of best utilising their potential.
Lauding the resilience of the Afghan forces, he said this was the first fighting season for the Afghan forces on their own. Gen. Campbell said fighting might not end with the arrival of winter as the rebels might continue to wage terror in the relatively warm south.
About the military strategy, he noted that dialogue at the higher level is underway to reduce the number of check posts and enable the government forces to patrol and attack the rebels rather than sitting and waiting for them in the check posts. “there is some political pressure on some corps commanders not to reduce check posts”, he mentioned, adding that the Ministry of Defence and Ministry of Interior have sent commissions across the country to find ways to improve the ALP and reduce check posts.
About the deadly on Medicne Sance Frontiers (MSF) hospital in Kunduz, the US General said investigations were underway and would be made public soon. “It was a human, technical and procedural error”. On peace talks with the Taliban, he said split among the ranks of the Taliban would further delay but reduction of violence is a pre-requisite. “People inside Afghanistan who just criticize the government and don’t come-up with solutions, they are not helping at all”.
ENDS
