3.Afghanistan.Colour_-Sequence004-web
June 2009. Kabul. Afghanistan
Afghan National Army (ANA) units in training at the Kabul Military Training Center.
The Afghan National Army (ANA) is currently being trained by the coalition forces. Afghanistan's army was officially established in the 1880s.Prior to that the army was mostly a combination of tribesmen and militia forces, as well as a special army force under the ruler of the country.
During the 1960s to the early 1990s, the Afghan army was trained and equipped by the Soviet Union. By 1992 the national army fragmented into regional militias under local warlords. This was followed by the Taliban rule in 1996, which had their own armed forces. After the removal of the Taliban in late 2001, the new Afghan National Army began to be created with the support of US and other NATO countries. Since 2002, billions of US dollars worth of military equipment, facilities, and other forms of aid has been provided to the ANA. .
The current goal of the Afghan Ministry of Defense is to expand the Afghan National Army to about 134,000 troops. However, American President Barack Obama has called for an expansion of almost 260,000 Afghan troops in the next five years at a cost of $20 billion. All costs of expansion of the army, including pay and new modern equipment, would be paid for by the American government.