Lt. Col. Todd Harrell, a spokesman for U.S. special operations forces in Afghanistan, said the Americans have halted training for at least a month of about 1,000 trainees of the Afghan Local Police (ALP), a government-backed militia that is under the authority of the national police but operates independently. He said the Americans are redoing background checks on the Afghans.
Ah, just the current class of the lowest rung of organized government forces, the local defense forces.
These forces live in the community and would be more vulnerable to Taliban influence--either blackmail, bribery, or religious fervor--to attack Coalition or government forces.
The story also notes the numbers involved, which I like to know for troop density purposes:
U.S. special operations forces are responsible for the 16,000-strong ALP and decided to stop training the new recruits among them while re-vetting them. The ALP already in the field, who have already been trained, will continue to operate as normal, Harrel said. The government will also keep recruiting new members, he said.
Not the biggest news story of the day despite the potential for panic. Afghans continue to fight with us against our common enemies.
