Afghanistan lacks pilots, engineers to handle Black Hawk 'copters, U.S. watchdog warns

KABUL (Reuters) - The United States risks providing Afghanistan with state-of-the-art Black Hawk helicopters that the country's embattled air force does not have the pilots to fly nor the engineers to maintain, a U.S. watchdog said on Tuesday.

The warning, by the U.S. Special Inspector for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR), comes amid widespread fears that the Afghan military will struggle to cope with a looming pullout of allied foreign troops after more than 17 years of conflict.