Number of private security contractors up by 65pc

Over the past two years, Task & Purpose reported, the number of armed contractor personnel supporting the US mission in Afghanistan rose by more than 65 percent to 2,847.
Citing Pentagon statistics, the site said there were 1,722 armed contractors in January 2017. In Jan. 2016, it recalled, there were 1,083 armed contractors in Afghanistan.
A US military spokesman in Afghanistan, Col. Dave Butler, linked the increase to an administrative change in manning from shifts of 12 hours to shifts of eight hours in order to cut fatigue.
Pentagon spokeswoman Heather Babb was quoted as saying: "The numbers of contractors routinely fluctuate in all mission categories as a result of requirements and overlapping personnel assignments."
Most of armed contractor jobs in Afghanistan have been filled by third-country citizens or local Afghans. Of the 2,847 assigned to the DoD in Afghanistan, 84% are non-American, compared to 71% in Jan. 2017.