Militias a US plot to split Afghanistan: Taliban
KABUL: The creation of local militias, such as a newly announced police unit, is an attempt by the United States to split Afghanistan ahead of the
withdrawal of its troops, Taliban said on Monday.
Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved a controversial US plan for a new local defence force to help tackle a Taliban insurgency,
which is spreading despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops.
Accountable to the Interior Ministry, the Local Police Force (LPF) will help the Afghan National Police protect rural areas from attacks by insurgents.
The formation of the LPF is a sensitive issue for Afghans, as they remember the notorious militias mobilised by the Soviets during their decade-long
occupation in the 1980s, and the role they played in the ruthless civil war that followed.
Ousted from power by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, the Taliban said the foreign forces were facing “disgraceful defeat” in the Afghan war and
wanted to leave it in a way that “it should remain in continuous war one way or the other”.
Washington plans to scale down the presence of its troops in Afghanistan from mid-2011. Afghanistan hopes to take responsibility for security in all
parts of the country by 2014. reuters.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg7_33
KABUL: The creation of local militias, such as a newly announced police unit, is an attempt by the United States to split Afghanistan ahead of the
withdrawal of its troops, Taliban said on Monday.
Earlier this month, Afghan President Hamid Karzai approved a controversial US plan for a new local defence force to help tackle a Taliban insurgency,
which is spreading despite the presence of some 150,000 foreign troops.
Accountable to the Interior Ministry, the Local Police Force (LPF) will help the Afghan National Police protect rural areas from attacks by insurgents.
The formation of the LPF is a sensitive issue for Afghans, as they remember the notorious militias mobilised by the Soviets during their decade-long
occupation in the 1980s, and the role they played in the ruthless civil war that followed.
Ousted from power by US-backed Afghan forces in 2001, the Taliban said the foreign forces were facing “disgraceful defeat” in the Afghan war and
wanted to leave it in a way that “it should remain in continuous war one way or the other”.
Washington plans to scale down the presence of its troops in Afghanistan from mid-2011. Afghanistan hopes to take responsibility for security in all
parts of the country by 2014. reuters.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2010\07\27\story_27-7-2010_pg7_33
