KABUL – *The Special Inspector General For Afghanistan Reconstruction(SIGAR) on Friday released a review of the management and oversight of fuelin Afghanistan and found that fuel theft has become a lucrative business inthe country.*

According to SIGAR, due to the amount of fuel needed for militaryoperations, along with the highly transferable nature of this commodity,fuel theft has become a lucrative business in Afghanistan, with at least$154.4 million USD in fuel stolen from either the US military or the AfghanNational Defense and Security Forces.

“However, because US officials have usually detected fuel theft long afterthe theft began, it is likely that even more fuel has been stolen inAfghanistan,” the SIGAR report read.

SIGAR stated fuel theft and other means of profiting from fuel conspiraciescan provide insurgent and terrorist organizations with needed funds tocontinue to undermine the Afghan government and threaten the Afghan people.

The review stated that the US Department of Defense (DoD) supplied morethan 2.8 billion gallons of fuel to support US military operations inAfghanistan at a cost of more than $13 billion USD from the 2008 to 2016financial years.

From 2010 through to 2018, DOD planned to spend $3.2 billion USD to supplyfuel for the ANDSF.

According to the review, the DOD’s Combined Security TransitionCommand–Afghanistan (CSTC-A) is exploring new options to supply fuel goingforward.

“Although these requirements may address some of the weaknesses associatedwith the ANDSF fuel procurement process, CSTC-A still has no ability toremotely monitor fuel deliveries, storage tank levels, or fuel transferprocedures,” the review stated.