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US to speed up Afghan weapons supplies: minister
Kabul (AFP) Nov 17, 2007 The United States will speed up the supply of 50,000 assault rifles to the Afghan army, boosting its ability to take on the Taliban, Afghanistan's defence minister said Saturday, Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters that he convinced US officials during a recent visit to accelerate supplies after delays caused by demand for guns in Iraq. The new weapons will phase out old Russian and Chinese-made arms. "This issue was very sensitive to us. There are lots of complaints about weapons in the army. The weapons in hand are very old, some 30 years," Wardak added. The first batch -- some 5,000 assault rifles -- is scheduled to arrive in January and a further 10,000 each month until the target of 50,000 is met. "I think when the snows have melted and the fighting season arrives, a vast majority of the Afghan army will be armed with M-16s instead of AK-47s," he said. Wardak said US authorities had also pledged thousands of armoured vehicles. Meanwhile, more than two dozen military aircraft, most of them Russian-made helicopters donated by the United Arab Emirates, were due to start arriving in batches of around three from next month, he said. Building up the air force is the "only factor which has prevented us from independent operations," Wardak said. Development of Afghanistan's security forces is part of an international commitment to the war-torn country made after a US-led invasion drove out the 1996-2001 Taliban regime, which had sheltered Al-Qaeda. The army numbers about 50,000 soldiers and is scheduled to reach 64,000, with an additional 4,000-strong air force, by the end of next year. However, Wardak has said the forces would need to be significantly larger to secure Afghanistan, where the Taliban insurgency is gaining pace. Afghanistan's international allies, which have about 55,000 soldiers in the country, are also keen for the Afghan forces to become established since this would allow them to withdraw from intense and costly battles. Community Email This Article Comment On This Article Related Links News From Across The Stans
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