From Asia Times Online
“Encouraging signs in the Afghan war are not in good supply, but a recent small engagement in the eastern province of Ghazni may be one. Weary of the absence of schools, medical help, safe marketplaces, and pockmarked roads, local Pashtuns calling themselves the “National Uprising Movement” fought the local Taliban bands. Remarkably, the locals inflicted sharp casualties on the Taliban and forced them to back down. The Movement won. [1]
“The National Uprising Movement did not act in concert with US troops or the Afghan National Army (ANA). They oppose the US and the Afghan government as much as they do the Taliban. This “third force” in the long Afghan war, though opposed to both sides, will probably benefit the US and Kabul side. But of course artlessness in dealing with this movement could detract from if not ruin its possibilities.”
