Widows of Afghan Soldiers Forced to Perform ‘Sexual Favors’: SIGAR

Some widows of Afghan Army members killed in action were forced to perform sexual favors for officials before they could obtain pension benefits, U.S. Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) has said.

John Sopko that the U.S. is “trying to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan people,” but “first need to win the hearts and minds of the Afghan Security Forces.” 

The Afghan Defense Ministry, however neither accepted nor rejected SIGAR’s report.

 “We are not aware of this in the Defense Ministry,” said Spokesman Dawlat Waziri. ” As soon SIGAR reported, the [Defense] minister himself has ordered a delegation to probe this issue,” he added.

The SIGAR report also detailed pervasive corruption and extortion throughout the Afghan Security Forces at all levels of the force, which affects morale.

“High-level corruption, such as that exhibited by some ANDSF leaders, is likely to promote lower-level corruption, as a culture of impunity starts at the top and then normalizes corrupt behavior within the entire system,”

“Reports of corruption have been widespread and varied, including, but not limited to, participation in the drug trade, extortion, pay- for-position schemes, bribery, land grabbing, and selling U.S. and NATO-supplied equipment, sometimes even to insurgents,” it said.