Having grown up during 23 years of war, Ubidullah is no stranger to tough army life. But like many of his fellow troops in the newly formed Afghan National Army (ANA), he hates his job.
"I don't like to stay in the army, because the salary is very low and the commanders are very cruel," the 25-year-old said as he held a Russian-made AK-47 while guarding a checkpoint.
"If I work in another place I will make much more than the 70 dollars that the army pays me, so why should I stay," he asks.
For a country which has been controlled by regional warlords in charge of private armies for decades, the building of a new non-partisan force has been looked upon as a significant step in Afghanistan's development. The new army has also won funding and training from the international community.
The government and the international community want the ANA to grow to be 70,000-strong and, following the disarmament of the 100,000-to-200,000 militiamen in the country, become the dominant military force in Afghanistan.
But last week, defence ministry officials were forced to admit that hundreds of soldiers had deserted the fledgling service after completing training given by instructors from the United States, France and Britain.
Ministry spokesman General Mohammad Zahir Azimi initially said some 3,000 soldiers had fled the ANA before the ministry revised this figure downwards dramatically to 800, although this number is not believed to include early losses.
A US military spokesman in Kabul said the number of soldiers who had enlisted with the ANA, which was formed in May 2002 following the ousting of the Islamic fundamentalist Taleban regime, but then left the army was about 1,750.
Since ANA recruitment began in May 2002, some 10,235 trainees had entered basic training, Lieutenant Colonel Bryan Hilferty said. Of these, 6,827 soldiers have graduated and 1,654 are still in the program.
"As with any training program, particularly military training, some students or trainees fail to complete the program of instruction for any number of reasons," Hilferty said. "It would be inappropriate to label these 1,754 soldiers who failed to graduate as deserters."
Hilferty said that initially, basic training loss rates were as high as 45 per cent but that more recently this figure had dropped to about seven percent per training group.
While he was unable to point to a reason for the high drop-out rate, Hilferty said some local leaders had forced people to join the ANA in the early stages. Tough training, low wages and factional links to the private militias that still control wide swathes of the country outside Kabul are believed to be behind the remainder of the losses.
Ubidullah, from a former militia loyal to a local warlord in Afghanistan's north-eastern Kunar province, joined the army six months ago along with 24 other fellow villagers. Now he is the only one of this group to remain in the service.
"The salary was insufficient for them, so they left," the 12th battalion soldier said.
"The soldiers who have deserted the army are the one who have big families and can't feed their families with the salary that the army pays," Major Taj Muhammad told AFP at the army's headquarters in Kabul.
ANA recruits receive 50 US dollars a month during training and a minimum wage of 70 dollars per month after that, not a bad income in impoverished Afghanistan.
In addition to their imported uniforms and tuition, soldiers receive a seven-dollar-a-day food allowance and 60 dollars a month if they go on exercises outside the capital, Kabul. A handful of generals receive the top salary of 850 dollars a month.
"In my battalion there were 800 people when we came, but now there are only 200," said Eid Marjan, a soldier from a Pastun ethnic background. "Yes, all deserted."
"I ran away for seven months but I was called in again," the 25-year-old from eastern Khost province said, adding that he spent most of his salary on travelling the 150km (93 miles) back to his home province.
"There is discrimination against ethnics - my Uzbek commander was telling me that the Pashtun are al Qaeda members," he added.
Abdul Qadir, who has lived most of his life in Pakistan as a refugee, said he joined the ANA to help support his family.
"I was working as a labourer in Pakistan, making around 200 rupees (4 dollars) a day, but now they pay me 70 dollars (a month) which is not sufficient to feed my family," he said.
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