US official: Bad spending oversight hampers Afghan troops

A US watchdog says lack of coordinated oversight of America's spending in Afghanistan has led to a waste of funds and hampered training and development of the country's security forces.

Washington's Special Inspector General for Afghan Reconstruction, or SIGAR, which monitors billions of dollars in US aid to the country, says America has so far spent more than $84 billion dollars on Afghan forces but they continue to suffer staggering losses and bleed personnel. Soldiers go home on leave and never return.

SIGAR's report, released late Thursday, paints a troubling picture of a costly Afghan security development scheme, with multiple supervising U.S. and NATO departments that don't coordinate with one another.

The report says the "security sector assistance mission in Afghanistan lacked an enduring and comprehensive plan" from the start.