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Afghan Army Fights to Quell Widening Exodus

Soldiers quitting the battlefield hamper campaign against a nationwide Taliban insurgency

KABUL—The 74 Afghan soldiers based in an embattled pocket of southern Helmand province had run out of water, food and ammunition. So a local Taliban commander proposed a deal: Hand over your weapons and military uniforms, and run. They accepted.

The battlefield exodus in November wasn’t an isolated incident. As the Afghan army tries to quell a swelling, nationwide insurgency by Taliban rebels, it is losing soldiers faster than it can replace them.