AFGHANISTAN’S SHRINKING MILITARY: On the same day the Islamic State claimed responsibility for a deadly attack in the heart of Kabul that killed 31 people, including nine journalists, the Pentagon’s independent Afghanistan watchdog reported a sharp decline in both the authorized and actual troop strength of the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.

The latest quarterly report from the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) notes that while the Afghan army and police are authorized at 340,000, but actually have 296,000 personnel, meaning the army is operating at 85 percent, and police at 93 percent of their authorized strength. “These figures represent a sharp decline in strength from the same period last year: a total of 35,999 fewer personnel in January 2018 compared to January 2017,” the report notes.

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