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https://www.stripes.com/news/afghan-military-looks-to-bigger-bases-while-closing-checkpoints-in-hostile-taliban-territory-1.580570#.XNcfvi4jsOg.twitter
STARS AND STRIPES
Afghan military looks to bigger bases while closing checkpoints in hostile Taliban territory
By J.P. LAWRENCE | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: May 11, 2019
CAMP MAIWAND, Afghanistan — Taliban raids like the one on a small outpost in Wardak province that killed 11 of his soldiers earlier this month are a vexing problem for Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq Safi.
But soon the remote, often undermanned checkpoints will be shuttered in favor of larger bases.
Safi, who heads a brigade in the army’s 203rd Corps, commands troops who guard two highways into the Afghan capital from Wardak and Logar provinces south of Kabul. Some of his checkpoints, vulnerable to attack, are difficult to supply and reinforce, he said.
The general closed several such outposts in Logar over the winter and plans to do the same in Wardak this spring, with the aim of forming bands of larger bases, each with about 40 troops, along the key highways.
It’s part of a larger move by the Afghan Defense Ministry to preserve its shrinking military by pulling troops from far-flung checkpoints, sometimes manned by as few as four soldiers in areas where the population is sympathetic to the Taliban, and massing them at larger camps in government-held territory. MORE...............
STARS AND STRIPES
Afghan military looks to bigger bases while closing checkpoints in hostile Taliban territory
By J.P. LAWRENCE | STARS AND STRIPES
Published: May 11, 2019
CAMP MAIWAND, Afghanistan — Taliban raids like the one on a small outpost in Wardak province that killed 11 of his soldiers earlier this month are a vexing problem for Brig. Gen. Abdul Raziq Safi.
But soon the remote, often undermanned checkpoints will be shuttered in favor of larger bases.
Safi, who heads a brigade in the army’s 203rd Corps, commands troops who guard two highways into the Afghan capital from Wardak and Logar provinces south of Kabul. Some of his checkpoints, vulnerable to attack, are difficult to supply and reinforce, he said.
The general closed several such outposts in Logar over the winter and plans to do the same in Wardak this spring, with the aim of forming bands of larger bases, each with about 40 troops, along the key highways.
It’s part of a larger move by the Afghan Defense Ministry to preserve its shrinking military by pulling troops from far-flung checkpoints, sometimes manned by as few as four soldiers in areas where the population is sympathetic to the Taliban, and massing them at larger camps in government-held territory. MORE...............
Posted in these groups: 
Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Edited >1 y ago
Posted >1 y ago
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The military problem of basing in Afghanistan is the propensity to build bases on flat and leveled land surrounded by hills and mountains. It takes good intelligence to defend a base, but I don't think the villagers want to get involved.
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I don't know why I'm getting the page not found thing. The link appears to work.
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