From the Washington Times:
Green Berets reveal Afghan National Army soldiers’ incompetence
Elite Army Green Berets are knocking the performance of the Afghan National Army (ANA), telling war tales of its soldiers hiding and quitting the fight.
The Green Beret criticisms, contained in a U.S. Central Command “friendly fire” investigative file, provide a window into the flaws of a national army more than a decade in the making.
The Special Forces soldiers gave poor marks to the institution that is supposed to keep Afghanistan democratically elected governments in power. The security force must rebuff an expected Taliban offensive, on its own, once all American troops leave after 2016.
The soldiers gave statements to investigators after going into battle June 8-9 in the Gaza Valley of Zabul province, northeast of Kandahar. The Green Berets told of Afghan soldiers refusing to fight and hiding among trees and behind a rock.
The Afghans had no ability to fight at night, a hallmark of American forces. Green Berets had to take the lead in clearing villages controlled by Taliban militants, even though the steady withdrawal of U.S. forces is at the stage where Afghans are supposed to be “on point” — that is, the first to engage the enemy.
The Green Beret’s A-Team leader, a captain, made several unflattering statements.
Investigators were probing the mission’s end point, when a B-1B bomber mistakenly dropped two bombs on a “friendly” position, killing five American soldiers and the Afghan sergeant commander.
The captain said the operation got off to a rough start when the Afghan National Army provided fewer soldiers than requested.
“They do not always show up with the forces promised,” he said. “This was not ideal.”
After the insertion, “The detachment took point due to the “ANA’s inability to move during periods of darkness,” the captain said.
At about the midpoint in village clearing, he said, “The ANA became stagnant and were hiding in the green zones,” swaths of forested areas in an otherwise desert valley.
Then the Afghan soldiers simply quit.