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U.S. military stops releasing information tracking progress in Afghanistan WASHINGTON — Amid a battlefield stalemate in Afghanistan , the U.S. military has stopped releasing information often cited to measure progress in America’s longest war, calling it of little value in fighting the Taliban insurgency. The move fits a trend of less information being released about the war in recent years, often at the insistence of the Afghan government, which had previously stopped the U.S. military from disclosing the number of Afghans killed in battle as well as overall attrition within the Afghan army. The latest clampdown also aligns with President Trump’s complaint that the U.S. gives away too much war information, although there is no evidence that this had any influence on the latest decision. Trending News A government watchdog agency that monitors the U.S. war effort, now in its 18th year, said in a report to Congress on Wednesday that the U.S. military command in Kabul is no longer producing “district control data,” which shows the number of Afghan districts — and the percentage of their population — controlled by the government compared to the Taliban. The last time the command released this information, in January, it showed that Afghan government control was stagnant or slipping. It said the share of the population under Afghan government control or influence — a figure that was largely unchanged from May 2017 to July 2018 at about 65 percent — had dropped in October 2018 to 63.5 percent. The government’s control or influence of districts fell nearly 2 percentage points, to 53.8 percent. Less than two years ago, a top American commander in Afghanistan called population control “most telling.” Gen. John Nicholson told reporters in November 2017 that he wanted to see the figure, then about two-thirds, increase to at least 80 percent, with the Taliban holding only about 10 percent and the rest contested. “And this, we believe, is the critical mass necessary to drive the enemy to irrelevance,” Nicholson said then. Nicholson’s successor, Gen. Scott Miller, believes there already are enough such assessments available to the public, including one produced by intelligence agencies. “We are focused on setting the conditions for a political settlement to safeguard our national interests,” Col. David M. Butler, a spokesman for Miller, said in an email exchange Tuesday. “The district stability assessment that was previously provided by DOD was redundant and did little to serve our mission of protecting our citizens and allies.” The war is at a sensitive juncture, with the Trump administration making a hard push to get peace talks started between the Taliban and the Afghan government. The Taliban recently launched a spring military offensive and have refused to directly talk to Kabul representatives, viewing the government as a U.S. puppet. In its report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, said Miller’s command offered a further explanation for no longer producing the “district control” data, asserting there was “uncertainty” in the way the data were produced and saying “the assessments that underlie them are to a degree subjective.” “The command said they no longer saw decision-making value in these data,” the SIGAR report said. In remarks to reporters last week, John Sopko, the special inspector general, criticized what he called a trend toward less openness by the military authorities who are advising, training and assisting Afghan security forces. “I don’t think it makes sense,” Sopko said. “The Afghan people know which districts are controlled by the Taliban. The Taliban obviously know which districts they control. Our military knows it. Everybody in Afghanistan knows it. The only people who don’t know what’s going on are the people who are paying for all of this, and that’s the American taxpayer.” In January, Mr. Trump sharply criticized his own administration for disclosing information that he said aids enemy forces. “Some IG goes over there, who are mostly appointed by President Obama — but we’ll have ours, too — and he goes over there, and they do a report on every single thing that’s happening, and they release it to the public,” Trump told reporters. “What kind of stuff is this? We’re fighting wars, and they’re doing reports and releasing it to the public? Now, the public means the enemy. The enemy reads those reports; they study every line of it.” Mr. Trump then turned to the acting defense secretary, Patrick Shanahan, and said, “I don’t want it to happen anymore, Mr. Secretary.” The war in Afghanistan is largely forgotten in much of America, as is the enormous, continuing financial cost. This year the Pentagon budget includes $4.9 billion to provide the Afghan army and police with everything from equipment and supplies to salaries and food. That is one piece of a wider array of “reconstruction” assistance the U.S. government has provided since the war began in 2001, totaling $132 billion. Overall, the U.S. has spent $737 billion on the war and lost more than 2,400 military lives, according to the Pentagon.
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वासिङ्टन। अफगानिस्तान सरकारले पछिल्ला महिनाहरुमा देशव्यापी नियन्त्रण गुमाउँदै गएको र ठूलो संख्यामा स्थानीय सुरक्षाकर्मीको मृत्यु भएको एक अमेरिकी सरकारी संस्थाको पछिल्लो अध्ययनले देखाएको छ । संस्थाको अध्ययनमा तालिबान विरुद्धको सङ्घर्षमा खासै कुनै प्रगति नभएको ठहर गरिएको छ । अफगानिस्तानको पछिल्लो सुरक्षा सङ्कटको विश्लेषणमा प्रहरी र सैनिक टुकडीले अभूतपूर्व चुनौती भोग्नु परेको पाइएको छ । अमेरिकी नेतृत्वमा १७ वर्षअघि भएको सैनिक हस्तक्षेपपछि पनि तालिबानको प्रभाव र बर्चश्व कम हुनुको साटो बढ्दै गएको छ । अफगानिस्तानमा तैनाथ अमेरिकी नेतृत्वको नेटो अभियानले उपलब्ध गराएको विवरणमा पछिल्लो चार महिनामा अफगान सरकारले ४०७ वटा जिल्लामध्ये २२६ वटामा मात्र नियन्त्रण वा प्रभाव कायम राख्न सफल भएको उल्लेख छ । अर्थात् कूल भूभागको करिब ५५ प्रतिशतमा काबुलको नियन्त्रण वा प्रभाव छ । अफगानिस्तानको पुनर्निर्माणका लागि अमेरिकी नियोग (सिगार) का अनुसार अघिल्लो चार महिने समयावधिभन्दा पछिल्ला चार महिनामा शून्य दशमलब ७ प्रतिशतले सरकारी नियन्त्रण गुमेको छ । नोभेम्बर २०१५ मा जिल्लाहरुको वस्तुस्थितिको अध्ययन गर्न थालेयता यो सबैभन्दा कमजोर अवस्था हो । सिगारका अनुसार बाँकी जिल्लामध्ये ४९ वटा (१२ प्रतिशत) मा विद्रोहीको पूर्ण नियन्त्रण वा प्रभाव छ । अरु एकसय ३२ वटा जिल्लामा भने काबुल सरकार र तालिबान वा अन्य विद्रोहीमध्ये कसको नियन्त्रण छ भन्न कठिन रहेको छ । जनसंख्याका आधारमा काबुलको नियन्त्रण ६५.२ प्रतिशतमा छ, र यो गत वर्षकै हाराहारीमा रहेको छ । अमेरिकी सैनिक जनरल जोन निकोल्सनले नोभेम्बर २०१७ मा अफगान सुरक्षाफौजले आगामी दुई वर्षभित्र कूल जनसंख्याको ८० प्रतिशतमा नियन्त्रण राख्न सक्ने बताउनुभएको थियो । अफगान मामिलाका विज्ञ बिल रोज्जियोले जनरल जोनले दाबी गरेझैं परिस्थितिमा सुधार नआएको बताउनुभयो । उहाँले भन्नुभयो, “अफगान सुरक्षाफौजले कुनै नाटकीय सफलता प्राप्त नगर्दासम्म र सुरक्षा व्यवस्थामा सुधार ल्याउन अमेरिकाले पुनः प्रतिबद्धता व्यक्त नगर्दासम्म कुनै ठोस सफलता हासिल हुने सम्भावना देखिन्न ।” सुरक्षा व्यवस्थामा रहेको कमजोरीको रुपमा आन्तरिक आक्रमणलाई पनि लिन सकिन्छ । कान्दाहारमा यही महिना उच्चस्तरीय सुरक्षा बैठकमै सुरक्षागार्डले चलाएको गोली लागेर कान्दाहारका प्रहरी प्रमुख जनरल अब्दुल रजिकको हत्या भयो । उक्त हमलामा अरु दुई जनाको हत्या हुनुका साथै केही सैनिक अधिकारीहरु घाइते भएका थिए । उक्त बैठकमा अफगानिस्तानका लागि अमेरिकी तथा नेटो कमान्डर जनरल स्कट मिलर पनि सहभागी हुनुभएको थियो । जनरल स्कट भाग्यले बाँच्नुभयो, तर अमेरिकी ब्रिगेडियर जनरल जेफ्री स्माइली समेतका १३ जना घाइते हुनुभएको थियो । तालिबानले मिलर र रजिकलाई आक्रमणको निशाना बनाएको बताएका थिए । अमेरिकी राष्ट्रपति डोनाल्ड ट्रम्पले एक वर्षभन्दा पहिले अफगान योजनामा परिवर्तन ल्याउने घोषणा गर्नुभएको थियो । उहाँले अफगानिस्तानको सुरक्षा व्यवस्था अफगान फौजलाई हस्तान्तरण गर्ने र अमेरिकी सेनाले अफगान फौजलाई तालिम एवं परामर्श सेवा उपलब्ध गराउने प्रतिबद्धता जनाउनुभएको थियो । काबुलले अनुरोध गरेपनि अफगान सुरक्षाफौजले भोगेको क्षतिको विवरण उपलब्ध गराउन वासिङ्टनले अस्वीकार गरेको छ । सिगारको प्रतिवेदनमा हरेक वर्ष पाँच हजारभन्दा बढी अफगानी फौजका जवानको मृत्यु हुने गरेको छ । पछिल्लो प्रतिवेदनमा सिगारले नेटो रिसोल्यूट सपोर्टको भनाइ उद्धृत गर्दै पछिल्ला दिनमा क्षति अझ बढी भएको जनाएको छ । “यसैवर्षको मे देखि अक्टोबर १, २०१८ को अवधिमा अफगान फौजको सबैभन्दा बढी क्षति भएको छ,” सिगारको भनाइ छ । अमेरिकी रक्षामन्त्री जेम्स म्याटिसले यसैसाता अगष्ट र सेप्टेम्बरमा मात्र एक हजारभन्दा बढी अफगानी फौजका युवाको मृत्यु भएको बताउनुभएको छ । सिगारले पछिल्ला चार महिनामा अफगान सुरक्षाफौजले कुनै प्रगति नै नगरेको जनाएको छ । अमेरिकाले पछिल्ला दिनमा अफगानको शान्तिका लागि तालिबानसँग वार्ताको पहल गर्नुका साथै तालिबानलाई भइरहेको पाकिस्तानी सहयोग रोक्न पाकिस्तानमाथि आर्थिक कटौती समेतका दबाबमूलक अभियान सञ्चालन गरिरहेको छ । रासस/एएफपी