‘Ghost soldiers’ to blame for Afghan govt’s quick defeat: Ex-minister

RT.com, 10 Nov, 2021- Afghanistan’s former finance minister has claimed that “ghost soldiers” and corrupt government officials were responsible for the Taliban’s ability to quickly seize control of the country, as NATO forces withdrew their personnel.

Speaking on Wednesday, Khalid Payenda, who served as the Afghan finance minister immediately before the Taliban’s takeover, claimed that around 300,000 soldiers and police officers listed on the government’s payroll did not exist.

The so-called “ghost soldiers” were kept on the books by corrupt officials who pocketed their wages, according to Payenda, who said they were “desertions [and] martyrs who were never accounted for” by commanders who “would keep their bank cards.”

The situation allowed the Taliban to quickly seize control of territory in Afghanistan, as American and NATO forces withdrew from the country. Due to false accounting by provincial officials, Payenda says that the actual numbers had been inflated by up to six times the actual figure.