US not releasing data on Taleban attacks: Panel

kabul — The US mission in Afghanistan has for the first time refused to publicly release its data on insurgent attacks amid the implementation of a peace agreement between the United States and the Taleban, an American watchdog said on Friday.

The decision not to release the data comes as the Trump administration is eager for the US-Taleban agreement to be seen as successful so that President Donald Trump can meet his commitments on pulling troops out of

Afghanistan.

Washington’s Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which monitors billions of dollars in US aid to Afghanistan, expressed its concern in its quarterly report.

John F. Sopko, who heads the watchdog, wrote that data on the Taleban and other militant attacks “was one of the last remaining metrics SIGAR was able to use to report publicly on the security situation in Afghanistan”.

The report said US forces have classified all casualty information from Afghan national defence and security forces for the first quarter of 2020. However, the office of Afghanistan’s national security adviser earlier this week said the Taleban have carried out 2,804 attacks since the peace agreement between the Taleban and US was signed on February 29.

Lt-Col. Thomas Campbell, a Pentagon spokesperson, said data on insurgent attacks is important to discussions between agencies regarding the Taleban’s adherence to the peace agreement.