Are US-issued rifles less reliable than Russian weapons?
That was the statement of General Zalamai Wardak, director of the Afghan national police, on Sputnik on May 12.
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Afghan soldiers practice disassembling and assembling AK-47s in July 2016. Photo: AP. |
''Russian weapons are much better than American weapons. The West does not want us to use and repair Russian weapons. The US has replaced all Russian-made weapons with their inferior guns in the rearmament program for Afghanistan,''SputnikMay 12 quoted the statement of General Zalamai Wardak, priceDirector of the Afghan National Police.
Mr. Wardak's statement was made in the context that the US is promoting a plan to replace nearly 50,000 AK-47 rifles in service with the Afghan armed forces with two types of American-made M4 and M16 rifles.
General Wardak said that the US and the West are only taking advantage of the Afghan market to serve their own economy by forcing Kabul officials to buy weapons at prices three times higher than Russian weapons.
Military experts and Afghan soldiers also believe that the two American rifles are not as reliable as the AK. "The soldiers know this weapon well. The AK is easy to use and never malfunctions in combat situations. They never let us down," said the commander of a unit of more than 1,000 Afghan police.
The war in Afghanistan is the longest war on terror in the history of the United States, which began in October 2001 and shows no signs of ending. During last year's election campaign, US President Donald Trump repeatedly said that the war cost too many lives and money.
However, national security advisers have persuaded the US President to increase his presence in Afghanistan as well as provide armed support to the country's military, to prevent the risk of the Taliban overthrowing the Washington-backed government.
