bobdina
06-09-2010, 03:11 PM
Special Forces Training Afghan Villagers
June 09, 2010
Agence France-Presse
American special forces are helping Afghan villages organise their own protection against Taliban militants, a US army chief in southern Afghanistan has told AFP.
Brigadier General Ben Hodges, head of operations for US forces in southern Afghanistan, said some Afghan villagers have been provided basic training and cash in areas beset by the Islamist insurgency.
"There are some programmes where special forces units are out in a village stability programme where they might find a large village and then help train the locals to defend themselves," Hodges told AFP in an interview.
"We don't have enough police and army and coalition forces to cover every single village," he said.
The initiative appeared to be similar to US military efforts in Iraq from 2006, when former Sunni insurgents were used to help fight Al Qaeda and contribute to a decline in violence.
The general, however, sought to downplay similarities between the counter-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We don't want to create a militia, we don't want to do anything that undermines the government or the police," Hodges said.
"We don't provide weapons, but we do provide money for cash for work programmes, that sort of thing. And basic training, like how to use a weapon, do patrols, how to protect your vehicles," he added.
"What you hope is that if it works there others will want to do it also."
Operations to beat back the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar, heartland of a bitter insurgency against the Western-backed Afghan government, are due to escalate in the coming months as thousands more troops deploy.
NATO, US and Afghan soldiers are preparing their biggest offensive yet against the Taliban in Kandahar province, with total foreign troop numbers set to peak around the country at 150,000 by August.
NATO forces intend to use various measures to restore the authority of the government in the vast province, including strengthening the police and leading the hunt for militants in districts surrounding the city of Kandahar.
June 09, 2010
Agence France-Presse
American special forces are helping Afghan villages organise their own protection against Taliban militants, a US army chief in southern Afghanistan has told AFP.
Brigadier General Ben Hodges, head of operations for US forces in southern Afghanistan, said some Afghan villagers have been provided basic training and cash in areas beset by the Islamist insurgency.
"There are some programmes where special forces units are out in a village stability programme where they might find a large village and then help train the locals to defend themselves," Hodges told AFP in an interview.
"We don't have enough police and army and coalition forces to cover every single village," he said.
The initiative appeared to be similar to US military efforts in Iraq from 2006, when former Sunni insurgents were used to help fight Al Qaeda and contribute to a decline in violence.
The general, however, sought to downplay similarities between the counter-insurgency efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq.
"We don't want to create a militia, we don't want to do anything that undermines the government or the police," Hodges said.
"We don't provide weapons, but we do provide money for cash for work programmes, that sort of thing. And basic training, like how to use a weapon, do patrols, how to protect your vehicles," he added.
"What you hope is that if it works there others will want to do it also."
Operations to beat back the Taliban in the southern province of Kandahar, heartland of a bitter insurgency against the Western-backed Afghan government, are due to escalate in the coming months as thousands more troops deploy.
NATO, US and Afghan soldiers are preparing their biggest offensive yet against the Taliban in Kandahar province, with total foreign troop numbers set to peak around the country at 150,000 by August.
NATO forces intend to use various measures to restore the authority of the government in the vast province, including strengthening the police and leading the hunt for militants in districts surrounding the city of Kandahar.