Afghan President Hamid Karzai has approved a controversial US plan for a new local defence force to help tackle the growing Taliban insurgency. The formation of a Local Police Force is a sensitive issue for Afghans who remember the notorious militias mobilised by the Soviets during their decade-long occupation in the 1980s, and the role they played in the bloody civil war that followed.
Afghan officials say Karzai had long resisted pressure by Washington to create similar units in areas where the insurgency was strongest, but had finally agreed to the idea on Wednesday. Present were top government officials and the commander of the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), General David Petraeus and the US ambassador to Kabul, Karzai's office said in a statement.
The 150,000-strong ISAF force is suffering mounting casualties while taking on the Taliban in their southern heartland, and the United States wants Karzai to take more responsibility for security ahead of a gradual withdrawal starting next year. Nearly 2,000 foreign service members have died in the Afghan conflict - over 100 last month alone - and scores more Afghan troops, civilians and insurgents.