Officials from the Ministry of Interior have critcized U.S. moves toward dismantling military bases around the country, which were originally expected to be handed over to Afghan forces after the NATO coalition withdraws in 2014.
According to Afghan officials and military experts, the U.S. has begun taking down, shipping out and destroying much of its base infrastructure and equipment that was built up over the course of the past 12 years.
The MoI has asked the U.S. to stop destroying its facilities and not let them go to waste. Ever since the 2014 deadline for the NATO combat mission was set, the popular assumption has been that foreign bases would be handed down to the Afghan forces eventually.
According to MoI spokesman Sediq Sediqi, the rationale that foreign officials have offered Afghans is that the Afghan forces are incapable of making use of and maintaining all of the facilities.
"The idea that the Afghan forces lack the capacity to manage these facilities is illogical and unfounded," Sediqi said. "We hope that the foreign forces review their decision in this respect."
A number of political commentators have said that ongoing tensions surrounding the Kabul-Washington Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) are likely behind the U.S.' recent move to dismantle bases.
"There was a commitment that some of these facilities would be handed over to the Afghan forces, but tensions with the Afghan government over the BSA has possibly led the foreign troops to destroy their military facilities ahead of the pull out," political analysts Jawed Kohistani told TOLOnews.
The BSA was approved by a Loya Jirga in Kabul last month, but remains unsigned by President Hamid Karzai, who has said he will only finalize the deal if the U.S. meets certain preconditions.
The U.S. has said the deal must be signed as soon as possible, and threatened a pull withdraw without any residual troops staying behind to help continue to develop the Afghan forces and oversee the use of aid support. Some 4.1 billion USD in military funding would be denied to Afghanistan if the BSA is not signed.
Many Afghan officials, activists and members of the public have criticized Karzai's approach to the BSA. Coming off of one of the bloodiest fighting seasons on record, anxiety about the capabilities of the Afghan forces and a possible security vacuum post-2014 continues to mount in Kabul.