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26 Pro-Government Afghans Killed in Fighting

Ayesha Tanzeem

   ISLAMABAD - As many as 26 members of Afghan local forces or
   pro-government militias were killed over the past two days in northern
   Afghanistan in fighting with the Taliban, according to the Ministry of
   Defense and local officials.

   On Sunday night, Taliban fighters attacked local Afghan forces in
   Khwaja Ghar district in Takhar province. Mohammad Jawad Hijri, a
   spokesman for Takhar's governor, told VOA fighting continued for hours
   and the attack was only repulsed after reinforcements arrived.

   A Defense Ministry statement said 17 of those killed belonged to the
   Afghan local army, which is different from the regular national army in
   Afghanistan. Officially called the Afghan National Army Territorial
   Force, the local force under the leadership of the army was created in
   2018 to allow locals to guard their own territories.

   "[T]hey work extremely well, producing determined fighters with local
   knowledge who protect the civilians in their areas and often stand
   their ground more than regular troops because they have nowhere else to
   retreat to," wrote Kate Clark, the co-director of Afghanistan Analysts
   Network in a dispatch about the local force.

   Meanwhile, provincial officials in Balkh confirmed a separate Taliban
   attack Saturday in the Shulgra district that killed nine men and
   wounded seven others. All of them belonged to local militias known as
   anti-Taliban uprising forces.

   The Taliban have not yet commented on these incidents, but the
   insurgent group has come under heavy criticism for continuing attacks
   that often kill innocent civilians.

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