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WASHINGTON — Security in Afghanistan is deteriorating, with the budding Afghan army one of the few rays of hope in a nation where conditions are dire, according to a study funded by the U.S. government.

"The security sector shows the most dramatic decline" of the five areas studied, said an interim report by the Center for Strategic and International Studies made available to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "Last year, efforts to stabilize and secure the country were seen as a success. Today, however, Afghans feel less safe than they did a year ago."

At the same time, progress is being made in building the Afghan National Army, and Afghans continue to have confidence that as the army gains strength security will greatly improve.

The report says that Afghans have not yet lost faith in their government or the international community, but that the country is "at a tipping point" and the effort to rebuild Afghanistan will fail unless "the needs of ordinary Afghans are met."

"Afghans are less hopeful today than they were a year ago. The state-building mission has lost ground, and is slipping further into the danger zone," the report says.

The Washington-based think tank is evaluating progress in a study funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development. The project has included 1,000 lengthy interviews with Afghans, equally divided between men and women, throughout Afghanistan.

The report quotes a resident of Kandahar, a southern province among the most violent and chaotic in the country, asking: "Where is security? Everywhere there are explosions that kill poor and helpless people."