A new report by the US Defense Department says people in Afghanistan feel less secure than at any recent time.
The Pentagon report to US Congress on the war developments in Afghanistan since last December, says Afghans do not feel better protected now. The report says perceptions of security are near all-time lows.
The report cites opinion polls that indicate only 20 percent of Afghans surveyed in March call security good. That is a drop from 39 percent a year earlier, according to AP.
42 percent of Afghans say security is worse now than during the period the Taliban ruled the country from 1996 to late 2001.
The report calls the 42 percent figure a historic high.
It also says Afghan battlefield deaths continue to escalate and civilian casualties have hit a record high.
Afghanistan is gripped by insecurity 15 years after the United States and its allies attacked the country as part of Washington’s so-called war on terror.
The war removed the Taliban from…