Kabul, August 18: Afghanistan’s government must show progress on eradicating rampant corruption or risk losing the support of the United States, which helps it stay in power, a senior US politician told.
Senator John Kerry described corruption as “one of the most significant challenges facing Afghanistan and facing the allies who are supporting Afghanistan,” as a war against Taliban insurgents drags towards its tenth year.
Afghanistan is rated as the second most corrupt country in the world, better only than lawless Somalia, by watchdog Transparency International, and is led by a president whose re-election last year was tainted by massive fraud.
President Hamid Karzai is under intense pressure from his Western backers to tackle endemic corruption at every level of Afghan life.
–PTI