U.S. Watchdog Cites ‘Disturbing Increase’ in Afghan Attacks
- Terror attacks and poppy cultivation increasing, report says
- Report belies Pompeo statement that U.S. approach is working
Afghan security personnel secure a road near the site of suicide attack in Jalalabad on July 31, 2018.
Photographer: Noorullah Shirzada/AFP/Getty Images
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Afghan forces are continuing to lose ground in the country’s 17-year war as targeted terror attacks and poppy cultivation rise even as Afghanistan President Ashraf Ghani’s government takes tentative steps toward peace talks with the Taliban, according to a Pentagon watchdog.
The latest quarterly report by the U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction comes just three weeks after Secretary of State Michael Pompeo signaled optimism during a surprise visit to the country, saying that President Donald Trump’s strategy to fight the Taliban is working.