Winter Lull in Fighting Provides Opportunity for U.S. in Villages to Establish Afghan Local Police (ALP)

The lull in the winter fighting is going to provide an opportunity for U.S. forces to make inroads into the villages in rural areas that are under Taliban control.  Many Taliban return to Pakistan or to their homes in Afghanistan during the winter months.  This provides the U.S. military with more occasions to meet with village elders to reinforce the theme of local ties with the district sub-governors, Afghan National Police (ANP), to start or finish development projects, and to institute a local village defense force sometimes referred to as Afghan Local Police (ALP) or neighborhood watch groups.  This is true in the village of Bangi, Afghanistan where military personnel recently met with village elders.  Read more on this topic in "US troops hope for Afghan winter breakthrough", Google Hosted News, January 11, 2011.