"Afghan battle against corruption begins as mayor comes under fire
Meanwhile, a recent pay increase for Afghan soldiers and police appears to have resulted in a surge of new applicants, the top US military official for Afghan security training said.
Lieutenant General William Caldwell, citing Afghan statistics, said 2,659 Afghans had applied to join the security forces in the first seven days of this month, about half of the month’s recruiting objective. In the three previous months, recruiting fell short of targets, with only 830 applicants in September, he said.
And how many of them are insurgent infiltrators?
President Obama’s new strategy for Afghanistan, which calls for 30,000 US reinforcements next year, depends on rapidly growing a well-trained Afghan force that can take over security from US and NATO forces. Afghanistan has about 97,000 security forces and 95,000 police officers, but they are poorly trained, have rapid turnover, and are subject to corruption.
Related: Boston Globe Censorship: Troops Outnumber Taliban
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