By Wikipedia PUL-E-KHUMRI, Afghanistan — German soldiers, just back from patrol, had already started shedding their heavy body armor when shots rang out Friday at…
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The Afghan National Army is a service branch of the Military of Afghanistan currently being trained by the to ultimately take the lead in land-based military operations in Afghanistan. Afghanistan's army was established in the 1880s when the nation was ruled by Emir Abdur Rahman Khan. Prior to that the army was mostly a combination of tribesmen and militia forces, as well as a special army force under the ruler of the country. During the 1960s to the early 1990s, the Afghan army was trained and equipped by the Soviet Union. By 1992 the national army fragmented into regional militias under local warlords. This was followed by the Taliban rule in 1996, which had their own armed forces. After the removal of the Taliban in late 2001, the new Afghan National Army began to be created with the support of US and other NATO countries. The ANA is being equipped with modern weapons and provided with newly-built state-of-the-art housing facilities. Since 2002, billions of US dollars worth of military equipment, facilities, and other forms of aid has been provided to the ANA. Most of the weapons come from the United States, which includes 4,500 Humvees, at least 104,000 M-16 assault rifles, body armored jackets as well as other types of vehicles and weapons as well as aircraft. It also includes the building of a national military command center, with training compounds in different parts of the country. As of September 2009, there are more than 4,000 military trainers from the United States and additional numbers from other NATO members, providing advanced warfare training to the Afghan National Army, Afghan National Police Force and Afghan Provincial Reconstruction Teams. To thwart and dissolve former militias or Taliban supporters, the government of Afghanistan has offered cash and vocational training to encourage members to join the ANA. As of August 2009, the Afghan National Army consists of more than 100,000 active troops. The current goal of the Afghan Ministry of Defense is to expand the Afghan National Army to about 171,600 troops. However, American President Barack Obama has called for an expansion of almost 260,000 Afghan troops in the next five years at a cost of $20 billion. All costs of expansion of the army, including pay and new modern equipment, would be paid for by the American government.
