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Analysis: US military ends reporting on security situation in Afghanistan’s districts
The U.S. military and NATO have stopped producing an assessment that was considered key for measuring progress against the jihadist insurgency in Afghanistan, according to a report released on April 30 by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR). The metric, which tracked district stability, was one of the “most widely cited Afghan security metrics.” But it will no longer be available to the public, or those tasked with oversight. In Nov. 2017, General John W. Nicholson Jr., then commander of Resolute Support and U.S. Forces Afghanistan (USFOR-A), said the “most telling” metric for success is “population control” —…
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Analysis: US military downplays district control as Taliban gains ground in Afghanistan
The Taliban continues to gain on the Afghan government; seven more districts have fallen under Taliban control or are contested, according to SIGAR. The US military dismissed these gains, stating that this is “not indicative of effectiveness of the South Asia strategy or progress toward security and stability in Afghanistan.”
