State Dept, Pentagon are concealing Afghanistan data, says U.S. watchdog

FILE PHOTO: Taliban members in charge of security, patrol in Kabul, Afghanistan October 28, 2021. REUTERS/Jorge Silva

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A U.S. government watchdog on Friday accused the State Department and Pentagon of suppressing information that lawmakers and the public need to understand the collapse of Afghanistan's former government and military and the chaotic U.S. troop pullout.

"The full picture of what happened in August - and all the warning signs that could have predicted the outcome - will only be revealed if the information that the departments of Defense and State have already restricted from public release is made available," said John Sopko, the special inspector general for Afghanistan reconstruction (SIGAR).