KABUL - Afghanistan will use biometrics to verify the existence of every member of the Afghan National Defense and Security Force (ANDSF), vowed President Ghani.
The Afghan leader’s pledge comes nearly two months after the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) reported that Washington and Kabul have no idea how many ANDSF members “actually exist,” which members are available for duty, and whether they are truly capable of defending their own country.
SIGAR is a congressionally appointed U.S. watchdog agency.
The ANDSF, which includes army and police units, is primarily funded by U.S. taxpayers to the tune of billions of dollars every year.
During a joint press conference on Tuesday with U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter, Afghan President Ashraf Ghani was asked what he will do to guarantee that international funding provided to Afghanistan will not go to waste.
“Every soldier and every police officer — every police man and woman will be verified… based on the biometrics,” he responded. “We will be sure that yes, they exist… [and that] they can serve at the highest level of the Afghanistan national defense security forces.”
Ghani promised that Afghanistan will also ensure that there is a system in place that admits competent ANDSF recruits.
On Saturday, the U.S. and NATO committed to a “long haul” plan to provide financial support to the struggling ANDSF, with U.S. taxpayers continuing to pick up most of the tab.
The Afghan security forces are projected to receive up to $5 billion a year in funding through 2020, including about $3.5 billion from the United States, an estimated $1 billion from the international community, and nearly $420 million from Afghanistan.
Military.com reports that the funding “agreements announced at the NATO summit in Warsaw essentially met the requests of Afghan President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah, who came to the conference with a long wish list and met with President Barack Obama.”
“These funding commitments will allow the ANDSF to maintain its authorized force level of 352,000 personnel (including Afghan military, national police and local police) through 2020,” notes the White House.