Ionic cordova | Execution failed for task ':app:processDebugResources' | AAPT: error: resource xml/network_security_config not found

this happens when i try to do an ionic cordova build android

Android resource linking failed D:\blabla\platforms\android\app\build\intermediates\merged_manifests\debug\AndroidManifest.xml:22: AAPT: error: resource xml/network_security_config (aka com.blabla.bla:xml/network_security_config) not found.

> BUILD FAILED in 1s D:\blabla\platforms\android\gradlew: Command failed
> with exit code 1 Error output: FAILURE: Build failed with an
> exception.
> 
> * What went wrong: Execution failed for task ':app:processDebugResources'.
> > Android resource linking failed   D:\blabla\platforms\android\app\build\intermediates\merged_manifests\debug\AndroidManifest.xml:22:
> AAPT: error: resource xml/network_security_config (aka
> com.blabla.bla:xml/network_security_config) not found.
> 
>  
> D:\blabla\platforms\android\app\build\intermediates\merged_manifests\debug\AndroidManifest.xml:22:
> AAPT: error: resource mipmap/ic_launcher_round (aka
> com.blabla.bla:mipmap/ic_launcher_round) not found.
> 
>   error: failed processing manifest.
> 
> * Try: Run with --stacktrace option to get the stack trace. Run with --info or --debug option to get more log output. Run with --scan to get full insights.

my androidManifest.xml has this

<application
    android:debuggable="true"
    android:hardwareAccelerated="true"
    android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher"
    android:label="@string/app_name"
    android:networkSecurityConfig="@xml/network_security_config"
    android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round"
    android:supportsRtl="true"
    android:usesCleartextTraffic="true" >

my ionic info is like this, cordova is used only and it would not be able to compile the aab format either

Ionic:

Ionic CLI : 6.17.1 Ionic Framework : @ionic/angular 5.1.1 @angular-devkit/build-angular : 0.901.7 @angular-devkit/schematics : 9.1.7 @angular/cli : 9.1.7 @ionic/angular-toolkit : 2.2.0

Capacitor:

Capacitor CLI : 2.1.2 @capacitor/android : not installed @capacitor/core : 2.1.2 @capacitor/ios : not installed

Cordova:

Cordova CLI : 10.0.0 ([email protected]) Cordova Platforms : android 8.1.0 Cordova Plugins : cordova-plugin-ionic-keyboard 2.2.0, cordova-plugin-ionic-webview 5.0.0, (and 5 other plugins)

Utility:

cordova-res : 0.15.3 native-run : 1.5.0

System:

Android SDK Tools : 26.1.1 NodeJS : v12.14.0 npm : 6.13.4 OS : Windows 10

config.xml is declared like this

<edit-config file="AndroidManifest.xml" mode="merge" target="/manifest/application" xmlns:android="http://schemas.android.com/apk/res/android">
            <application android:icon="@mipmap/ic_launcher" android:networkSecurityConfig="@xml/network_security_config" android:roundIcon="@mipmap/ic_launcher_round" android:usesCleartextTraffic="true" />
        </edit-config>