2015-2016

through our mentoring of the Afghan Security
Ministries, helping to foster capable and progressive
leadership throughout the ANDSF. Our team of
mentors is supported by further mentors from
Australia, Denmark and New Zealand.
The ANAOA is producing the next generation of
Afghan military leaders, building on our progress
towards creating a professional and capable Afghan
force which can provide security for Afghanistan.
The training at the ANAOA equips Afghan leaders
with the skills they need to lead the ANDSF with
competence and confidence. The UK was asked to
take responsibility for the ANAOA because of our
historic record of leadership excellence, embodied
by our military academies, such as the Royal Military
Academy Sandhurst, internationally recognised as
the gold standard in officer training. The ANAOA
has now reached full operating capability, and has
the potential to train up to 1050 male students and
90 female students every year. The Afghans are
now delivering all their own training, with mentors
providing close support to develop quality delivery.
The Academy is producing much sought after junior
officers who perform well in the field. The graduation
of the first 19 female officers from the Academy took
place on 16 June 2015, one of whom was awarded
the prestigious Sword of Honour. This represents
the progress being made for women, both in the
security sector and in broader Afghan society.
The UK-led Kabul Security Force (KSF) is highly
valued in providing assurance and coordination of
force protection for UK and wider NATO military and
civilian personnel moving within and around the
city. Our contribution to the KSF is directly enabling
our key strategic aim of supporting the development
of the ANDSF, which we are delivering through our
leading role at ANOA and our development of the
Afghan Security Ministries.
Casualties
On 11 October 2015 a Royal Air Force Puma
Mk 2 helicopter crashed while landing at the
Headquarters of Resolute Support, the NATO train,
advise and assist mission in Afghanistan. The crash
resulted in the tragic deaths of Flight Lieutenants
Geraint Roberts and Alan Scott, along with three
other NATO personnel.
ANDSF Progress
Currently fielding approximately 325,000 5 personnel
across Army, Police, and emerging Air Force capability,
ANDSF units have held the lead in providing security
across the country since June 2013. The UK is
continuing to support capacity building to address
challenges such as poor literacy, the ethnic and gender
5 Source: SIGAR 30 January 2016 (number dates from October 2015).
mix of ANDSF, corruption, budgeting, acquisition and
human resource management.
Clearly, the security situation across the country is
fragile, particularly in Helmand. Parts of the province
are remote and sustained Taliban pressure has tested
the ANDSF. But the ANDSF has shown the resolve
to continue the fight and the UK and NATO will
continue to support their development. While NATO is
committed to advising and supporting them, they are
rightly making their own decisions about how they
manage their forces to achieve the best results.
Wider Development in Afghanistan 6
A great deal has been achieved but there is still a
very long way to go. Our long-term commitment
to Afghanistan’s future continues to include
development assistance: the UK is spending £178m
in bilateral aid per annum until at least 2017. 7.2
million children are now in school, including 2.8
million girls (39%). In health, over 50% of pregnant
women receive some antenatal care (3 times as
many as 2003). Life expectancy is rising, more than
half the population (60%) now live within 2 hours
walk of public health facility, whereas in 2002 only
9% of the population were covered by any basic
healthcare. In technology, 23 million Afghans now
have a mobile phone subscription, and around 3
million have access to the internet.
Pakistan
Afghanistan and Pakistan have made continued
efforts to improve bilateral relations. President Ghani
acknowledges Pakistan’s critical role, both in terms of
improving security and in facilitating peace talks with
the Afghan Taliban. Pakistan’s importance to Afghan
stability is one reason why the UK maintains a close
defence relationship, principally through regular
Ministerial and senior military contacts to discuss
security matters and the provision of niche military
training both here in the UK and Pakistan. Pakistan
faces a severe threat from IED attacks perpetrated
by terrorist groups. In October 2015, we began
delivering a new three-year counter-improvised
explosive device (C-IED) capacity building programme
designed to support Pakistan in establishing a multiagency
capability for tackling IEDs. It builds on our
previous three year programme which ended in April
2015 having trained over 5,000 military and civilian
law enforcement personnel. As part of this support,
in September 2015 we gifted a package of spare
parts to the value of £950,000. The spare parts will
maintain previous gifts of C-IED equipment we have
already provided to Pakistan and will ensure that the
C-IED capability we have helped to develop can be
maintained.
6 These figures are from the core script and are provided by OGDs so
may be subject to change as it is worked on.
24 Annual Report and Accounts 2015-2016