KABUL — Two U.S. service members were killed by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan on Tuesday as Afghan forces increased the number of checkpoints and patrols in the capital amid public anger over security lapses that enabled a small group of militants to mount a series of suicide explosions and gunbattles the day before.
Meanwhile, the United Nations reported Tuesday that half of all Afghan adults paid at least one bribe to a public official over the course of a year to cut through red tape or get help with poor service.
Afghans paid nearly $2.5 billion in bribes — worth almost a quarter of the country’s GDP — in the 12-month period ending last autumn. The average bribe cost $160 — in a country with a per capita annual income of nearly $500.
