According to Ministry of Defense, the last year (1392) was bloody for Afghanistan National Security Force (ANSF). The death toll of Afghan soldiers and police notably increased with transition of more than 90% of security responsibilities to them in June, 2013.On Tuesday, Gen. Zahir Azimi MoD spokesman said that Afghan army soldiers suffered majority of casualties due to improvised explosive device (IED) attacks but did not deliver exact figure on how many soldiers were killed in the past one year. However, since the ANSF has assumed more security responsibilities, death toll of Afghan security force even reached up to 100 per week, especially in the fighting season which usually begins in spring and continues until the weather turns colder.

Keeping in view the increase in death toll of Afghan soldiers and police, it is feared that their causalities will go on increasing as the NATO will move nearer to its plan to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan by the end of this year. This time the ANSF will be responsible for managing major election related security activities. And as the election date nears, the insurgents are expected to intensify their attacks and there will be more clashes between them and the ANSF. More fighting will result in more deaths.

The insurgents claim to have infiltrated the ANSF ranks and there have been scores of incidents where Afghan soldiers have killed their foreign counterparts or their own colleagues. There have been reports saying that a number of Afghan police have defected to Taliban. Given the scenario, it is feared that the rising death toll of Afghan forces might result in their discouragement and demoralization. And once the Afghan army and police – that are pillars of Afghans’ hope - fall into such troubles, it will definitely prove to be catastrophic for Afghanistan and beneficial for the Taliban. It is the core responsibility of the Afghan government to carefully and properly plan for further growth of ANSF after 2014.

Afghan security forces have ended a bloody year. The current year is more important as the level of support they get from international troops will diminish. There is no doubt on the ability of Afghan army and police. Nonetheless, it will highly depend on how the new government creates better relations with the West for ensuring constant support to ANSF.