Afghan Government, U.S. Military Agree on New Militia Force, Defense Minis

Afghan Government, U.S. Military Agree on New Militia Force, Defense Ministry Says

KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - The U.S. military and Afghan officials have agreed to establish a new militia to fight an insurgency flaring across the south and east of the country, the Afghan Defense Ministry said Sunday.
Recruited from militias across the country, the new Afghan Guard Force will consist of about 2,000 men, said defense ministry spokesman Gen. Zahir Azimi.

"If they are needed in any place to suppress terrorism, we will send them," Azimi told a news conference. The force will include members of many different ethnic groups.

The U.S. military has been pressing for a force to fight alongside some 15,000 mainly U.S. troops against Taliban-led insurgents, al-Qaida holdouts and fighters of former Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar.

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