As the US moves towards troop withdrawal, the fate of Afghanistan may rest in the hands of these soldiers

REUTERS/Omar Sobhani

In 2014, the US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan transitioned from combat operations to focus on training the Afghan National Army.

• Through peace talks with the Taliban, the US is moving closer towards a complete withdrawal the 14,000 US troops in Afghanistan.
• In the event of a complete withdrawal of US-led NATO forces, the fate of Afghanistan will rest in the hands of its National Army soldiers.
• Since 2014, the focus of the NATO mission has been to train Afghan soldiers to take over their country's security.
• A recent watchdog report found that the strength of the Afghan forces is at its lowest level in four years.

As US and Taliban officials move closer to reaching a deal during ongoing peace talks, the fate of Afghanistan may soon rest in the hands of its national army soldiers.

The US-led NATO mission shifted its focus towards training these security forces in 2014, drawing back combat troops in an attempt to hand control to the Afghan government.

But the training mission has struggled to recruit and maintain the number of forces the nation will need, and a recent report by the US Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) notes the strength of the Afghan National Army is at its lowest in four years.

Afghan's security forces have borne devastating losses in the fight against the Taliban and other insurgent groups. These losses and the rising power of the Taliban have dropped Afghan forces to their lowest strength in four years.