Only skilled personnel of ex-army to be reemployed: Mujahid

KABUL (Pajhwok): A spokesman for Afghanistan's caretaker government on Saturday said the newly formed Afghan National Army (ANA) would not have a place for soldiers of the former republic, but only professional personnel among them would be reemployed.

The official said that the acting foreign minister's remarks about the formation of a new national army had been misinterpreted.

Deputy information and culture minister, ZabihullahMujahid made the remarks in an interview with Radio Azadi.

He said they needed professional cadres of the former regime but their armed forces were sufficient to serve as the national army.

"There were two types of soldiers in the former army; one are professional people who are with us. Our engineers in the air force have repaired 33 planes and our pilots operated them. We need them, they will be with us,” he said.

He added that the second was the type of soldiers who would fight every day and were not professionals most of whom were addicted to drugs.

"Our own Mujahideen are better than them. They fought a great war and defeated half the world. This good army cannot be found elsewhere,” Mujahid said.

Acting Foreign Minister Amir Khan Mottaqi said at the Center for Strategic Studies in Islamabad on Monday that Afghanistan no longer needed a strong army and they would not recruit soldiers of the previous regime.

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