© Bethany Matta/IRIN
The Guardian: UN concerned by controversial US plan to revive Afghan militias
Afghan strongmen have already begun vying for influence over militia program that diplomats fear will undermine Afghan government and lead to abuse.
As the Afghan government struggles to stem the Taliban insurgency and shore up its dwindling security forces, the US military is turning to a controversial solution long known to stoke unrest and exploitation: local militias.
International donors, including the UN, have warned against such plans and lobbied the Afghan president to reject the US proposal. They say the new militias resemble the Afghan Local Police, a force notorious for grave human rights abuses and destabilising villages by undermining the central government.
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WNU Editor: The Pentagon wants to duplicate what the Iranians did in Iraq when they trained and equipped Shiite militias to battle ISIS. And like in Iraq .... the focus is on defeating the enemy, not the human rights abuses that militias are known for bringing, nor how they can be a force that can undermine a central government.
