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Chicago Sun-Times
Chicago Sun-Times
National
Kathy Gannon | AP

Before pullout from Afghanistan, U.S. watchdog warned Afghan air force would collapse

A-29 Super Tucano planes were on display during a handover Sept. 17, 2020, from the NATO-led Resolute Support mission to the Afghan army at the military Airport in Kabul, Afghanistan. | Rahmat Gul / AP

KABUL, Afghanistan — Months before President Joe Biden announced the U.S.’s complete withdrawal from Afghanistan last year, Washington’s watchdog warned that the Afghan air force would collapse without critical American aid, training and maintenance, according to a newly declassified report.

The report by John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction, had been submitted to the Department of Defense in January 2021.

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