Before pullout, watchdog warned of Afghan air force collapse

By KATHY GANNON
Associated Press

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) — A year-old report by Washington’s Afghanistan watchdog has now been declassified and shows that it warned back in early 2021 that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical U.S. aid and training. That was months before President Joe Biden announced the end to America’s longest war. The report by the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction was declassified on Tuesday. It offers stark warnings about the capabilities of Afghanistan’s air force to survive in a post-U.S. Afghanistan, saying it would not be able to maintain the aircraft it possessed or train a new generation.