The Ministry of Defense on Saturday rejected a report by a top US watchdog on the existence of “ghost soldiers” – nonexistent personnel – in the structure of the Afghan National Army, saying more than 99 members of the Army have been recognized by the biometric system.

In a report to the US Congress on July 30, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said the number of ANDSF troops fell by nearly 42,000 compared to the same period last year.

The report said that this quarter’s ANDSF strength decreased by 41,777 personnel since approximately the same period in 2018, and by 50,277 compared to about the same period in 2017.

According to the report, there are 180,869 Afghan National Army (ANA) and 91,596 Afghan National Police (ANP) personnel enrolled and accounted for in APPS as of May 25, 2019.

In this program, host Wahid Ahmadi discusses the topic with Mirza Mohammad Yarmand, former deputy minister of interior and Mirdad Nijrabi, an MP.