Elite Marines role in Afghanistan key to 2014 exit

Elite Marines in southern Afghanistan's Helmand province are trying to help rural villages set up hometown militias to resist the Taliban insurgency.

It's a mission that is central to the U.S. and NATO exit strategy, but it is little known beyond the rugged brown hills of the upper Helmand River Valley.

In the remote village of Puzeh (poo-zay), 63 U.S. troops, led by a team of bearded special operations Marines, operate from a small compound. They mingle with villagers and confer with local power brokers in an effort to create the beginnings of a local force that could eventually stand up to the Taliban.

So far they have only seven villagers trained, with 19 others to come.

The Associated Press


