Taliban Claims Forming Iraqi-Style Councils to Fight The Militants Won't Work in Afghanistan

The Taliban released an English statement on its website in which it claimed that the U.S. strategy of forming tribal militias to fight the Islamist militants in Afghanistan was bound to fail. "The U.S. Defense Secretary and the masterminds behind the formation of the tribal militias should know that the tribal militias strategy was never a successful one in Iraq either," said the statement
The group claimed that people in the tribal areas were increasingly supportive of the militants, making things more difficult for the U.S. "The people of the tribal areas are bonded and infatuated by the spirit of jihad and patriotism," said the statement. The Taliban also reminded of the Russian forces' attempts to form militias to fight the militants was a failure.