As the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan(IEA) government aims to boost forces by a third and build anti-aircraft missile capacity. Defence has received the largest share of funds in Afghanistan’s budget.

Afghan Voice Agency(AVA)_Monitoring, Qari Fasihuddin Fitrat, a commander from the northern region of Badakhshan and the chief of army staff, condemned incursions by foreign drones into Afghan airspace, read the report.

Defence forces now numbering 150,000 are targeted to be increased by 50,000, he said, speaking in his office in the highly fortified defence ministry in Kabul, the capital, although he did not reveal the precise figure of the funds.

“The ministry of defence is the top-ranked in the budget,” he said, adding that it received a significantly higher sum than other ministries, as it was a priority in the budget, which is largely funded by boosted tax and customs revenue.

Fitrat said a major defence focus was securing Afghan airspace against drones and other incursions.

“Anti-aircraft missiles are the need of countries,” he said, adding that all nations sought developed weapons to ensure the integrity of their territory and airspace, a problem Afghanistan also faced.
“There is no doubt that Afghanistan is trying, and doing its best, to have it.”

“We are doing our best to find a solution for protection of our airspace. We will work on it by using all our capability,” Fitrat added.
“From where we will obtain it is confidential, but we should have it.”
Pakistan’s foreign ministry did not immediately respond to a request for comment, read the report.

Pakistan officials have not confirmed whether its airspace is used for drone access to Afghanistan.

“We have always tried, and will try, to solve the issue using diplomatic ways, and we have done our best to be patient regarding these cases,” Fitrat said.

Fitrat said former security personnel, who form a significant share of Afghanistan’s forces, were being paid and treated in the same way as IEA fighters. Reuters reported.