Afghan Gov’t Fails to Extend Control Over Districts: SIGAR

Citing figures provided by the NATO-led ‘Resolute Support’ mission in the Central Asian country, SIGAR John Sopko said that between May and the end of July the Afghan government’s control or influence over the country’s population and districts saw no change from the previous quarter.
“While Afghan govt halted insurgency’s momentum in gaining control of Afghanistan’s districts, population & territory past quarter, it failed to improve its own areas of control,” the watchdog said.
However, the Ministry of Defense (MoD) claims that the insurgent groups only control eleven districts and the rest of them are under the government’s control.
“Of the 400 districts, only eleven of them are under the insurgents’ control, not more than that,” Muhammad Radmanish, spokesman of MoD said.
“13.8% of Afghanistan’s districts under insurgent control or influence, up 1% from same period last year,” SIGAR tweeted.
The watchdog stated that more than 6 in 10 (62%) of Kunduz Province residents under insurgent control or influence.
“Afghan govt controls or influences 58.5% (376,685 sq km) of Afghanistan’s total land area; down 1% from previous quarter,” it added.
Since 2015, according to SIGAR, the Afghan government control and influence over its districts has declined by about 16 percentage points; contested districts have increased by nine points; and insurgent control or influence has risen by nearly seven points.”