New army graduates deployed in Afghanistan

During a passing out parade held at Afghan National Army (ANA) KMTC headquarters east of Kabul, 201 officers out of 1,554 newly military graduates, including 153 squad leaders, 30 computer experts and 18 others from the officers' coordination course, have completed their training to become officers of the Afghan National Army, Capt. Barat Ali Rizae from KMTC told media.
At the ceremony, a total of 1,353 soldiers have also graduated from the KMTC to become personnel of the army, he said.
The latest graduation came as Afghan security forces have intensified security operations against Taliban militants and ISIS terrorist group fighters, who have been attempting to take territory and consolidate their positions in the countryside ahead of winter.
The freshly graduated officers and the soldiers, who have undergone a 12-month training course at the KMTC, received professional certificates and would be deployed at the countryside, according to Rizae.
The latest graduation also came amid growing insurgency across the country, while the Afghan government is preparing to hold direct peace talks with the Taliban, after peace negotiations between a U.S. delegation and Taliban representatives in Qatar stopped by U.S. President Donald Trump.
Trump called off the talks in early September, following a Taliban-claimed suicide attack that killed a U.S. soldier and 11 Afghans in the Afghan capital of Kabul.
However, U.S. Special Representative for Afghan Reconciliation Zalmay Khalilzad arrived in Kabul on Sunday to discuss the stalled peace efforts with Afghan President Ashraf Ghani.
The talks were aimed at finding ways to bring about peace in Afghanistan and end the prolonged war.
The Afghan security forces remain in control of most of Afghanistan's population centers and all of 34 provincial capitals, but Taliban insurgents hold large portions of rural areas, staging coordinated large-scale attacks against Afghan cities and districts occasionally.
In the series of the Afghan military training process, a total of 1,154 cadets also graduated and joined the army rank on Sept. 9.