KABUL — At least one in seven Afghan soldiers walked off the job during the first six months of this year, a worsening trend at a time when Afghan and U.S. officials are trying to shift the burden of fighting the Taliban to Afghan security forces.
Between January and June, 24,590 soldiers walked off the job, compared with 11,423 who left in the same period last year, according to NATO statistics. In June alone, more than 5,000 soldiers deserted, nearly 3 percent of the force, which now has about 170,000 soldiers, significantly more than a year ago.
At one point this summer, at the height of harvest time in Afghanistan, the desertion rate climbed to an annualized rate of nearly 35 percent.
Afghan military officials and their coalition partners acknowledge that it will be important for Afghanistan to reduce the dropout rate as the number of U.S. soldiers in the country begins to decline.
Afghan and coalition officials say the soldiers who leave often complain about poor living conditions or commanders who do not allow a regular vacation schedule.
The Washington Post
