U.S. Creates Local Militias To Fight Taliban

csmonitor.com — Officials Afghanistan turned to an ambitious new American-backed program to train, uniform, and arm locals against the Taliban following the success of a similar plan in Iraq. Under the plan, members of each district shura (council) in Wardak nominate locals for the force who are then trained for three weeks by Afghans (with the involvement of American advisers). They then return to their home districts, receiving nearly $125 dollars a month in salary — more than the typical police income, which is usually less than $100 a month. If successful in Wardak, officials plan to expand the program to more than 40 other districts across the south and east. Afghan and American officials stress that the force is not a tribal militia.

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