People in Afghanistan feel less secure than before: Pentagon

A new report by the US Defense Department says people in Afghanistan feel less secure than at any recent time.

The Pentagon report to US Congress on the war developments in Afghanistan since last December, says Afghans do not feel better protected now. The report says perceptions of security are near all-time lows.

The report cites opinion polls that indicate only 20 percent of Afghans surveyed in March call security good. That is a drop from 39 percent a year earlier, according to AP.

42 percent of Afghans say security is worse now than during the period the Taliban ruled the country from 1996 to late 2001.

The report calls the 42 percent figure a historic high.

It also says Afghan battlefield deaths continue to escalate and civilian casualties have hit a record high.

Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity 15 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.

The war removed the Taliban from power but insecurity is still rampant in the country despite the presence of thousands of foreign troops.

According to the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), a total of 600 Afghan civilians lost their lives between January 1 and March 31, 2016, while 1,343 others were injured.

Roughly 10,000 US troops are still in war-weary Afghanistan where the security situation has escalated over a resurgent Taliban.

The US military presence goes directly against President Barack Obama’s pre-election pledge to withdraw all American troops from Afghanistan before leaving office by the end of this year.

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