2 years ago
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KUNDUZ, Afghanistan — The 46-year-old shopkeeper searched thoroughfare by thoroughfare for 3 days, calling successful countless favors successful an effort to retrieve his son’s assemblage aft this provincial superior fell to the Taliban successful August.
When helium recovered him, his lad was inactive successful his fatigues, lying successful a shallow ditch connected the outskirts of Kunduz airport’s subject base. The 24-year-old constabulary serviceman had been changeable aggregate times successful the look and chest, arsenic had the 4 different dormant policemen dumped beside him.
No 1 came for the different bodies.
The weeks earlier the autumn of Kabul, which was seized days aft Kunduz, are emerging arsenic 1 of the deadliest periods for Afghan information forces successful 2 decades of war. The Taliban’s implicit subject takeover of Afghanistan near astir 4,000 members of the country’s information forces dormant and different 1,000 missing, according to Afghanistan’s erstwhile service main of staff, Gen. Yasin Zia, citing information helium collected from erstwhile subject commanders from July 1 to Aug. 15.
Those numbers, successful that clip frame, correspond a important summation implicit the 8,000 Afghan information unit who were killed connected mean each twelvemonth for the past 5 years, according to Zia and a 2nd erstwhile Afghan information official. Some 92,000 members of authorities information forces were killed since 2001, Zia said, citing authoritative Afghan authorities records.
The grade of Afghan subject casualties was intimately guarded until now. The figures provided by Zia connection the archetypal accounting since the Afghan authorities made casualty information classified successful 2017. Zia said helium collected the information astir the last weeks of conflict successful an effort to assistance the families of the fallen.
Tallying the warfare dormant became progressively hard arsenic the Taliban seized territory. Unlike successful earlier phases of the conflict, erstwhile fallen authorities forces were gathered astatine morgues oregon carried to subject hospitals to beryllium counted, systems for reporting the dormant disintegrated arsenic the militants closed successful connected Afghan provincial capitals. In the weeks starring up to the autumn of Kabul, section officials ceased signaling the fig of killed and wounded, according to authoritative Afghan Ministry of Defense documents reviewed by The Washington Post.
The chaos that accompanied the Taliban’s expanse to powerfulness successful Afghanistan near 1,000 members of the information forces unaccounted for and their families without answers astir what happened to their sons, fathers and brothers.
In Kunduz, the bodies of Afghan troops were near on roadsides, extracurricular information compounds and beside checkpoints.
“The dormant were everywhere,” said the shopkeeper, who similar others successful this study spoke connected the information of anonymity for fearfulness of reprisals. He said helium went retired into the city’s streets successful the days aft the takeover and estimated helium saw dozens of slain soldiers and constabulary successful conscionable a fewer neighborhoods.
What the shopkeeper recovered was mirrored successful different provinces, including Herat, Ghazni and Helmand, wherever months of aggravated battles were brought to a speedy close.
Taliban enactment granted amnesty to each authorities forces and employees who surrendered. But fewer trusted the pledge, and galore Afghans feared burying a comparative who was successful the information forces would enactment the remainder of the household successful danger. Others simply couldn’t find their loved ones.
When Taliban fighters entered the airdrome base, they recovered an Afghan authorities subject morgue overflowing and a tiny aesculapian portion that had tally retired of beds, according to Mawlawi Mohammad Rahim Zulfaqar, who led 1 of the Taliban units into the basal and is present the movement’s subject commandant of the compound.
Doctors astatine the subject infirmary said they began to tally retired of abstraction successful the morgue and infirmary days earlier forces successful the state surrendered.
“We were surrounded. It was excessively unsafe for planes to land” to prime up the bodies, said 1 of the doctors who was astatine the basal erstwhile it fell. He said the dormant successful the morgue astatine that clip numbered astir 75. “Then the Taliban got truthful adjacent close the helicopters couldn’t land. We couldn’t nonstop anyone for exigency treatment. We had to bash everything ourselves.”
As the Taliban took power of the base, they moved the dormant and wounded to the city’s cardinal hospital, according to Zulfaqar.
“We took attraction of the dormant and the injured,” Zulfaqar said. Families were told they could travel to the cardinal infirmary to place their relatives and instrumentality the assemblage for burial, helium said.
A morgue authoritative said each the bodies were taken by household members and the installation is present empty, but the manager of the cardinal infirmary — present nether Taliban power — denied a Washington Post newsman entree to the site.
Casualties among Afghan forces spiked implicit the summertime arsenic Taliban fighters launched a bid of offensives against susceptible provinces on Afghanistan’s astir important roadways. The fig of dead-on-arrival troops doubled astatine Afghan subject hospitals, rising from 300 successful May to 600 successful July, according to the Ministry of Defense documents reviewed by The Post.
“It was similar a flood,” said 1 of the subject infirmary doctors successful Kabul of the past weeks of the warfare against the Taliban. After moving retired of beds, patients were being treated connected the hospital’s hallway floors.
“The occupation was transport. I warrant you that fractional of the soldiers we received dormant connected accomplishment could person been saved if they arrived faster,” helium said.
The subject doc blamed mediocre enactment successful Kabul for the spike successful casualties. Senior and section erstwhile Afghan information officials besides attributed the precocious casualties to a deficiency of readying successful Kabul for however to combat the warfare without sustained U.S. enactment conscionable arsenic Taliban forces ratcheted up attacks.
For months, a elder Afghan information authoritative astatine the provincial level begged the authorities successful Kabul to nonstop his men much instrumentality and supply greater aerial support. As Taliban attacks increased, helium projected a bid of operations retired into the districts to disrupt the group’s operations.
Instead, helium recalled, helium was told to determination successful the other absorption and propulsion each his forces inward to support cities and towns.
“It didn’t marque immoderate sense. It felt similar we were waiting,” helium said. Grouped unneurotic without the authorization to enactment offensively, the serviceman said his men began being picked disconnected 1 by 1 by Taliban snipers utilizing nighttime vision.
Military infirmary records during the aforesaid clip play besides amusement a spike countrywide of Afghan troops killed by 1 oregon 2 sniper bullets.
The authoritative said helium sent aggregate reports backmost to Kabul requesting a alteration successful strategy, but ne'er received a reply. Doctors astatine the main subject infirmary successful Kabul besides sent reports to the statesmanlike palace voicing concerns astir the ample numbers of fatalities owed to sniper wounds, but they excessively were ne'er answered.
Helmand’s superior of Lashkar Gah was surrounded by the Taliban for months and endured immoderate of the fiercest warring of the war. One erstwhile authorities commandant determination estimated astir 400 Afghan information unit were killed successful and astir the superior successful conscionable the past fewer weeks of the war.
The authorities “knew they were losing the war,” said a husbandman successful Helmand whose 22-year-old lad was among those killed astatine the extremity of the battle. “Every time they would alert the dormant bodies retired and the caller soldiers in.”
“If the authorities had conscionable made the determination to surrender earlier, they would person saved hundreds of lives,” helium said. “I don’t cognize the nonstop fig of soldiers killed, but during those days not a azygous graveyard successful Helmand sat quiet.”
Officials successful provinces wherever the warring was the astir fierce said families searching for missing relatives were excessively frightened to scope retired to the Taliban.
“The families cannot spell to the Taliban, and without a authorities determination is nary different root for them to crook to,” said a erstwhile elder authoritative successful Herat who, successful the days aft the autumn of the province, received countless phone calls from radical hopeless to find their loved ones.
“People are conscionable searching connected their own, but successful secret,” helium said. He described an informal web of erstwhile Afghan officials sharing accusation implicit WhatsApp groups. He said hundreds of cases are posted to the groups he’s a subordinate of, but helium cannot verify them all.
In Herat alone, helium estimated, helium has been successful interaction with astir 100 families. “The calls that erstwhile came each time present lone travel erstwhile a week oregon less,” helium said.
“I can’t picture however bittersweet it makes maine feel. Sometimes I astir privation God would assistance maine death,” helium said. “Our soldiers service our state and served with honor, but due to the fact that of a tiny radical of thieves, this is our situation.”
In much distant parts of the country, helium said helium believes the concern is overmuch worse. “In provinces similar Badghis, Farah and Ghowr the numbers of the missing is simply a catastrophe,” helium said.
Zamari, 45, past heard from his lad the greeting Kunduz fell. “He told me: ‘I volition travel backmost live and assistance you. I won’t beryllium the 2nd dormant assemblage sent home.’” Zamari’s eldest lad was besides a subordinate of the information forces and was killed successful clashes with the Taliban years ago.
But conscionable an hr later, Zamari could nary longer scope his lad by phone. He searched the metropolis streets for days but ne'er recovered a body. Since then, rumors person trickled successful of sightings of his lad successful distant districts, but the months of uncertainty are progressively difficult.
“I don’t cognize what I’m reasoning anymore,” helium said, trailing off. “I don’t cognize what I’m saying.”
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