Report: U.S.-Trained Afghan Cops Inept

The American-trained police force in Afghanistan is not effectively trained and is incapable of carrying out routine law enforcement duties, a U.S. government report found.

The joint report by the Pentagon and the State Department has been circulated to members of relevant congressional committees, The New York Times reported Sunday night on its Web site. State Department spokeswoman Janelle Hironimus and Pentagon spokesman Todd Vichan said Sunday night they could not comment on the report.

Managers of the $1.1 billion training program cannot say how many officers are actually on duty or where thousands of trucks and other equipment issued to the police force are now, said the report, issued by the inspector generals' offices at the Pentagon and the State Department.

The report said no effective field training program had been established in Afghanistan. Considering the current problems with the force, an estimated $600 million per year will be needed to sustain it, the report said.

Some of the problems in Afghanistan are similar to those experienced in Iraq, where inadequate training, too much reliance on private contractors for that training and lost equipment have plagued the formation of a reliable police force.

Meanwhile, NATO, seeking civilian back-up to its military action in Afghanistan, on Monday welcomed the possibility that the European Union may launch an operation there to train and fund local police and judiciary.

"It is very valid that the EU and NATO have as much cooperation as possible," said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer after talks at EU headquarters.

The EU sent a fact finding team to Afghanistan 10 days ago after calls from de Hoop Scheffer for the 25-nation bloc to take a greater role in building an effective police force and courts in the country.

NATO forces have been battling Taleban militants in Afghanistan's mountainous south for months, with deadly effect on both sides.

An estimated 70 to 80 Taleban were killed by NATO soldiers in fighting in the region after police told military authorities where insurgents had gathered, an official said Monday.

NATO soldiers suffered no casualties in the fighting in Helmand province that lasted into early Sunday, said Maj. Luke Knittig, the spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force.

The battle was in a remote location and there was no way to independently confirm NATO's casualty figures, provided by the commander on the ground.

"He had a pretty good idea of what he was up against and a pretty good idea of what effect he had on them," Knittig said.

The fighting was in the Musa Qala district of Helmand province but outside the town of Musa Qala, where British troops in October pulled out after an agreement with tribal elders that they would keep Taleban fighters out of town, Knittig said.