![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/36293986465_f906fcacb2_k.jpg.jpg\")
Widespread corruption in both the Afghan government and its National Security Forces has been crippling. Transparency International has put Afghanistan among the world\u2019s most corrupt countries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Sopko urged the U.S. government to make public a report his office prepared into allegations of sexual abuse of boys by some members of the Afghan military. Under U.S. law, it is illegal to provide training or equipment to any foreign military or individual suspected of committing \u201cgross human rights violations.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report is classified but the special inspector general wants it de-classified and its recommendation made public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cChild rape is always heinous and certainly could constitute a gross violation of human rights; however, each case requires a factual and legal review to determine whether it is a credible allegation,\u201d U.S. Department of Defense spokesman Adam Stump told The AP in an email reply to queries. He did not say whether the report would be made public or what, if any, action was being taken.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tuesday\u2019s special inspector general report also says the value of the opiate trade in Afghanistan has doubled in just one year, increasing from $1.5 billion in 2015 to $3 billion last year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The rare positive note struck by the report was to congratulate the government for not ceding territory to its enemies in the last four months, saying the government still controls of 59.7 percent of Afghanistan\u2019s districts. The remaining area is under the sway of insurgents, Sopko says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
But keeping its territory has taken a heavy toll on Afghan National Security Forces, according to the report, noting that in just the first five months of this year 2,531 Afghan service members were killed in action and another 4,238 were wounded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The report also said U.S. forces in Afghanistan identified more than 12,000 Afghan Ministry of Defense personnel that were \u201cunaccounted for,\u201d fearing some could be so-called \u201cghosts\u201d or personnel who exist only on paper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Meanwhile, Afghanistan\u2019s Defense Ministry spokesman Dawlat Waziri dismissed the claim that the government controlled less than 60 percent of the country saying the Taliban held sway in only a handful of districts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Associated Press writer Amir Shah contributed to this report.<\/i><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The U.S. watchdog tasked with overseeing the spending of billions of U.S. dollars in aid to Afghanistan said unprecedented restrictions on the movement of American government employees is sending a dangerous message to Afghan people and hinder the U.S. work in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":34857,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":62,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[101,12,26,62],"tags":[],"coauthors":[2179],"class_list":["post-16432","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-pentagon-congress"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"6I57CECQKJF3ZHZP2X74E65EXA","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/pentagon-congress\/2017\/08\/01\/watchdog-tight-security-hinders-oversight-of-us-afghan-aid\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented By:"},"yoast_head":"\n