Afghanistan’s defense spending grew by more than 18 percent over the past four years, with further increases expected as the number of International Security Assistance Force troops decreases, according to a new independent report. Afghanistan’s defense spending grew from $0.9 billion in 2011 to $1.8 billion in 2015, and is expected to reach $3.4 billion in 2020, 11.6 percent of the country’s gross domestic product, according to the report by the British think tank Strategic Defens?e Intelligence?. The money—used to reconstruct the country’s entire military—focuses on countering threats from the Taliban and illegal drug traders, according to the report. While historically the country has focused on outfitting its military through deals negotiated by NATO, since 2014 Afghanistan has been able to buy from foreign defense manufacturers through government-to-government deals.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.