US lost $19b in Afghanistan in 18 years: SIGAR

KABUL as a result of waste, fraud and abuse, a federal watchdog reported on Tuesday.

In its latest report, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said the US Congress had appropriated about $134 billion for Afghan reconstruction programmes since late 2001.

The report says: “Of that amount, SIGAR reviewed approximately $63 billion and concluded that a total of nearly $19 billion, or 30% of the amount reviewed, was lost to waste, fraud, and abuse.”

Am amount of $1.8 billion was lost to waste, fraud and abuse between January 2018 and December 2019, according to the oversight body.

More than 2,400 US soldiers have been killed during the American mission in Afghanistan, where the war has cost Washington about $1 trillion.

PAN Monitor/mud