October 2018 Quarterly Report

Here is the latest quarterly SIGAR report.

On Thu, Nov 1, 2018 at 10:00 AM George-Nichol, Jennifer CIV (US) <jennifer.george-nichol.civ@mail.mil> wrote:

Today, SIGAR released its forty-first Quarterly Report to Congress. Key Points: -- Afghan government control or influence of its districts reached the lowest level (55.5%) since SIGAR began tracking district control in November 2015. -- Since that time, Afghan government control and influence over its districts has declined by about 16 percentage points; contested districts have increased by about 11 points; and insurgent control or influence has risen by 5.5 points. -- UNAMA recorded 649 civilian casualties (313 deaths and 336 injuries) due to aerial operations by progovernment forces from January 1 to September 30, 2018, a 39% increase in from the same period in 2017 and a record number of civilian casualties caused by air strikes since UNAMA began recording civilian-casualty data in 2009. -- RS data reflects far fewer civilian casualties due to air strikes. From January 1 through August 15, RS recorded a total of 102 civilian casualties due to U.S. (29 casualties) and AAF (73) air strikes, less than a sixth of the 649 reported by UNAMA through September 30, 2018. -- The Department of Justice reported that the attorney general’s performance is deficient, his accomplishments are lacking, and he fails to cooperate with the U.S. Embassy on anticorruption matters. DOJ also told State that the attorney general has misled U.S. officials on the progress of anticorruption efforts. -- DOJ reports that the Anti-Corruption Justice Center (ACJC) is attempting to placate donors by pursuing a number of low-level, rather than high-level, corruption cases. The Department described the ACJC as insufficiently mission-focused, saying it instead “frets, stews over slights, snipes at other colleagues, and has a perpetual sense of entitlement.” -- Afghanistan’s attorney general has criticized the State Department-supported CMS (Case Management System) and has resisted its implementation. DOJ believes the attorney general’s motive for resistance to CMS is “a concern that more transparency will shine a light on his unproductive, corrupt, and patronage-laden office.” -- The ANDSF struggled to maintain its personnel strength this quarter with ANDSF strength at its lowest level recorded in the third quarter of the year since 2012. ANDSF strength decreased by 1,914 personnel since last quarter and by 8,827 personnel since the same period last year. The ANDSF is roughly 40,000 personnel, or 11%, below their target strength of 352,000 personnel. -- RS classified the exact strength data for female personnel in the ANDSF this quarter, and reported efforts to recruit women for the ANA are currently on hold. MOD is not actively recruiting women for the ANA. -- According to USFOR-A, there were 23 reported green-on-green insider attacks against ANDSF personnel from May 17 to August 26, 2018, bringing this year’s total to 56 insider attacks. As a result, the ANDSF incurred 42 casualties (28 killed and 14 wounded) this quarter, and sustained a total of 121 ANDSF casualties (85 killed and 36 wounded) from January 1 to August 26, 2018. -- Due to a severe drought affecting large swaths of Afghanistan, USAID has reported an expected wheat harvest deficit of 2.5 million metric tons. The UN reports that in 2018 alone, 275,000 people were displaced by the drought – 52,000 more people than the ongoing conflict had displaced during the same period. -- From 2002 through September 2018, the United States has committed an average of more than $1.5 million a day to help the Afghan government combat narcotics. Despite this, 2017 poppy cultivation is more than four times that reported by the UNODC for 2002, the first full year of the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan. -- However, counternarcotics seems to have fallen completely off the U.S. agenda. The State Department’s new “Integrated Country Strategy” for Afghanistan no longer includes counternarcotics as a priority, but instead subsumes the issue into general operations. Meanwhile, the U.S. military says it has no counternarcotics mission in Afghanistan, and USAID says it will not plan, design, or implement new programs to address opium-poppy cultivation. Full Quarterly Report: https://www.sigar.mil/pdf/quarterlyreports/2018-10-30qr.pdf Quarterly Report by Section: https://www.sigar.mil/quarterlyreports/index.aspx?SSR=6 Report Photos:  
Jennifer George-Nichol | Public AffairsOffice of the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR)Office: 703.545.5980Mobile: 571.645.6748 sigar.mil twitter.com/SIGARHQ facebook.com/SIGARHQ 

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