KABUL - The report states that officials have failed to keep an accurate account of about 95,000 vehicles handed to the Afghan forces.
A report issued by the US Department of Defense Inspector General shows that CSTC-A officials did not implement controls to properly account for and maintain thousands of vehicles handed over to the Afghan National Defense and Security Forces.
According to the report, Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, or CSTC-A, officials obtained approximately 95,000 vehicles for the ANDSF; however, CSTC-A officials did not have an accurate inventory of the vehicles.
The report also stated CSTC-A officials could not determine the types and quantities of vehicles transferred to the ANDSF. In addition, CSTC-A officials did not have controls in place to ensure that MoD and MoI officials consistently followed property accountability procedures.
“For example, an ANDSF vehicle that was reported as destroyed in battle and removed from the property books was later brought in for maintenance,” the report stated.
The report states that the Combined Security Transition Command-Afghanistan, or CSTC-A, cannot definitively account for $3.1 billion USD of US taxpayer’s money that went to the Afghan government from 2014 to 2017 to aid the Afghan army and national police, the Defense Department's Inspector General found, according a report released last week.
The lack of accountability leaves the funds vulnerable to "fraud, waste and abuse", the report stated.
“CSTC-A officials did not effectively manage and oversee the US direct funding provided to the Ministries of Defense and Interior, which oversees Afghanistan's Army and National Police, respectively," the report stated.
"CSTC-A management and oversight of the direct funding is intended to increase [Afghan security forces] effectiveness and capabilities so the [forces] can become more professional and increasingly self-sustaining," read the report.
Officials from the command, which is charged with funding and training Afghan forces, largely blamed "inadequate staffing and security concerns" for any shortcomings. However, the IG found systemic issues were also to blame.
CSTC-A officials established unrealistic and unattainable goals for the Afghans to improve their own capabilities toward achieving independence in supplying their own troops, the report says.
The report was the eighth and final report in a series of oversight investigations into CSTC-A functions since 2015. The reports have uncovered widespread issues within the command, including the commands' inability to account for more than $700 million USD worth of ammunition provided to the Afghan security forces between 2015 and 2017.
The Afghan Ministry of Defense has however rejected the report.
“I am sure that the number of vehicles which needed repairing is less that what has been shown in the report,” Defense Ministry spokesman Mohammad Radmanish told TOLOnews.
“Right now, a large number of our vehicles are being repaired and will be available for use very soon.”
One member of the Meshrano Jirga, the Upper House of Parliament, Nader Baloch, criticized government for its lack of attention to maintain military vehicles.
“The vehicles are used for personal purposes and besides that little attention is paid to them when they are used, while these vehicles should be used in a better way in order to ensure the safety of people in Afghanistan,” Baloch told TOLO news.
Officials at CSTC-A also faced scrutiny last year when John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, uncovered $28 million USD of wasteful spending on Afghan National Army uniforms in a decade.  (Tolo news)