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NATO reviews Afghan training mission

BRUNSSUM, Netherlands, March 24 (UPI) -- Soaring attrition rates and corruption in the Afghan police ranks require international supporters to review training procedures, NATO officials said.

The Afghan national police ranked low on the international priority for Afghanistan for years. With Washington placing more emphasis on the Afghan role in the conflict, NATO officials are putting a greater priority on building a viable security force.

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U.S. Army Lt. Gen. William Caldwell, the commander of the NATO training mission for Afghanistan, said at a two-day conference in the Netherlands that his goal was to add 10,000 police to the national security force by October. With attrition rates at their current level, he warned, NATO needs to train 40,000 Afghans to reach its target, the U.S. military's Stars and Stripes newspaper reports.

Caldwell said further reinforcements were needed for a quick-reaction force in order to raise those troop levels as well.

"It truly is the most challenging mission we have," he said.

A new literacy requirement for national service, meanwhile, will help build an intelligent Afghan police force, Caldwell added.

"No longer can you come in and just be a policeman," he said. "You need to be able to write down things you see and hear."

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Kabul plans to activate a recruiting mission for more troops within the next 90 days.

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