Topic summary
Afghan National Army
Extracted from the Wikipedia article Afghan Army.
Afghan National Army (2002–2021)
During the Bonn Conference on Afghanistan in early December 2001, PresidentHamid Karzai issued a decree reestablishing a unified army, the Afghan National Army. The decree set a size target of 70,000 (by 2009) and laid out the planned army structure. There had been significant disagreement over the size of the army that was needed. A Ministry of Defense-issued paper said that at least 200,000 active troops were needed. The Afghan Ministry of Defence loudly objected to the smaller, volunteer, nature of the new army, a change from the previous usage of conscripts. The US also blocked the new government from using the army to pressure Pakistan.