WASHINGTON – The report released by US Department of Defence states thatthe Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, or CSTC-A, cannotdefinitively account for $3.1 billion USD of US taxpayer’s money that wentto the Afghan government from 2014 to 2017 to aid the Afghan army andnational police, the Defense Department’s Inspector General found,according a report released last week.
The lack of accountability leaves the funds vulnerable to “fraud, waste andabuse”, the report stated.
“CSTC-A officials did not effectively manage and oversee the US directfunding provided to the Ministries of Defense and Interior, which overseesAfghanistan’s Army and National Police, respectively,” the report stated.
“CSTC-A management and oversight of the direct funding is intended toincrease [Afghan security forces] effectiveness and capabilities so the[forces] can become more professional and increasingly self-sustaining,”read the report.
Officials from the command, which is charged with funding and trainingAfghan forces, largely blamed “inadequate staffing and security concerns”for any shortcomings. However, the IG found systemic issues were also toblame.
CSTC-A officials established unrealistic and unattainable goals for theAfghans to improve their own capabilities toward achieving independence insupplying their own troops, the report says.
The report was the eighth and final report in a series of oversightinvestigations into CSTC-A functions since 2015. The reports have uncoveredwidespread issues within the command, including the commands’ inability toaccount for more than $700 million USD worth of ammunition provided to theAfghan security forces between 2015 and 2017.*report issued by the US Department of Defense Inspector General shows thatCSTC-A officials did not implement controls to properly account for andmaintain thousands of vehicles handed over to the Afghan National Defenseand Security Forces.*
According to the report, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan,or CSTC-A, officials obtained approximately 95,000 vehicles for the ANDSF;however, CSTC-A officials did not have an accurate inventory of thevehicles.
The report also stated CSTC-A officials could not determine the types andquantities of vehicles transferred to the ANDSF. In addition, CSTC-Aofficials did not have controls in place to ensure that MoD and MoIofficials consistently followed property accountability procedures.
“For example, an ANDSF vehicle that was reported as destroyed in battle andremoved from the property books was later brought in for maintenance,” thereport stated.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense has however rejected the report.