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‘The US Defense Department spent $43 million of American taxpayers’ money to build a gas station in Afghanistan that should have cost roughly $500,000, according to a new government watchdog report.

One of the most “troubling” issues is how the Pentagon was unable or unwilling to explain why the “ill-conceived” project was so expensive, the Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) said in a report issued Monday.

“Even considering security costs associated with construction and operation in Afghanistan, this level of expenditure appears gratuitous and extreme,” said John Sopko, the director of SIGAR.’

Read more: US spent $43 million on gas station in Afghanistan: Report