December 31, 2008	Wednesday	Muharram 02,1430

KABUL, Dec 30: The United States backs a proposed Afghan government plan to engage tribal elders in the war against the resurgent Taliban, a move seen by critics as reviving militias, its top envoy said on Tuesday.

Although, seven years on from the Taliban’s ouster, there are nearly 70,000 Nato-led troops in Afghanistan to be boosted by up to 30,000 extra US soldiers by the summer alongside tens of thousands of Afghan forces, William Wood said this was not enough to protect all Afghan villages from the militants. Called the “Community Guard Programme”, the pilot project will cover southern and eastern areas where the Al Qaeda-backed Taliban are most active, said Wood.

“The ... programme ... is meant to strengthen local communities and local tribes in their ability to protect what they consider to be their traditional homes,” Wood told a news conference at the US embassy in Kabul.

In Iraq, the recruitment of Arab tribesmen to help fight Al Qaeda is widely seen as one of the factors behind a decline in the level of violence.—Agencies