http://www.swissinfo.org/eng/international/ticker/detail/Getting_desperate_Afghanistan_mulls_forming_militias.html?siteSect=143&sid=6800695&cKey=1150015086000Getting desperate, Afghanistan mulls forming militias
By Simon Cameron-Moore
KABUL (Reuters) - Unable to offer protection to vulnerable villagers against intimidation by Taliban fighters, the Afghan government says it is considering forming tribal militias to guard the places security forces can't reach.
"The government is not arming these people. They have had arms for generations, and the government is going to register their guns and provide them some earnings in this regard," Abdul Manan Farahi, the Interior Ministry's counter-terrorism chief, told Reuters.
The insurgency is in its bloodiest phase since the overthrow of the Taliban government in late 2001, and with thousands more NATO peacekeeping troops being deployed by the end of July, this summer is regarded as a critical period.
But any decision to put irregular Afghan forces into the fray would run counter to a disarmament programme that is supposed to finish next year.