Data on Afghan casualties sealed

Kabul, Oct. 31: Washington has agreed to classify data on the number of Afghan security forces killed and wounded in the conflict, a US watchdog said, after months of soaring casualties and targeted attacks have eroded morale.

The decision was slammed on Monday by the US government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) John Sopko, who said it would hamper the watchdog’s ability to chart progress among US-funded Afghan troops.

“USFOR-A said the casualty data belonged to the Afghan government, and the government had requested that it be classified,” Mr Sopko said in the latest quarterly report documenting the use of US funds in Afghanistan.

There was no immediate comment from US Forces or Afghan officials. Mr Sopko said the move “will hinder SIGAR’s ability to publicly report on progress or failure in a key reconstruction sector”, noting that more than 60 percent of the roughly $121 billion in US funding

spent since 2002 has gone on Afghan security forces.

Casualties among Afghan forces in the early part of this year were “shockingly high”.

Washington has agreed to classify data on the number of Afghan security forces killed and wounded in the conflict

The decision was slammed by the US government’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction John Sopko