SAR-I-PUL, Afghanistan -- Residents of Sar-i-Pul Province, Afghanistan, are battling the Afghan Taliban's unwanted presence, Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL)'s Turkmen service reported August 5.
If residents were not fighting the Taliban, "the forces of law and order would not be able to support security in the province at the present level," Sar-i-Pul provincial police chief Abdul Qayum Baqizai told RFE/RL.
Those civilians took up arms and began defending their own villages in response to the troops' inability to protect every district in Sar-i-Pul, Bakyzai told RFE/RL.
