Kabul lifts air power to combat the Taliban

Militant pressure is forcing the Afghan military to accelerate its training of the country’s youth to staff its air force

LOGAR PROVINCE // Under pressure from the Taliban, Afghanistan’s military is increasingly relying on the country’s young air force, and is speeding up its training of pilots and ground controllers to strike at the enemy.

Once a strong flying power supported by the Soviet Union, Afghanistan’s air force was decimated by the civil war of the 1990s and under Taliban rule.

By the time western forces started rebuilding it in 2007, there were only a handful of Soviet fighter aircraft left.

“There are currently 78 trained and available aircrews in the Afghan air force,” said the commander of a US air force unit responsible for training Afghans.

“With the three main bases in Kabul, Kandahar and Shindand, the bad guys know the AAF can strike anywhere.”

The Taliban inflicted more than 5,000 deaths on government forces last year.

Nato is also trying to ensure that there are enough skilled Afghan tactical air coordinators, or Atacs. Exercises are conducted at a desert base 40 kilometres south of Kabul to test the abilities of young pilots and future Atac personnel.

But the growing strength of the AAF has been accompanied by a rising number of accidental deaths.

According to the UN, 133 civilians have been killed and 159 injured in air strikes since the beginning of the year, a 72 per cent rise on the same period last year.

Afghan crews are responsible for two thirds of casualties.

“Unfortunately, Taliban often hide in homes. We issue orders to avoid bombing residential zones but these things happen in war,” said Maj Gen Wahab Wardak, an AAF commander.

“To mitigate civilian casualties, the Atac is the bigger factor,” said a US colonel stationed in the region. For many Afghans, landing such a job is a dream.

Up to 2,000 apply for each batch at the AAF academy in Kabul. Recruits are subject to intensive background checks by Afghan intelligence to ensure they have no links to the enemy.