Afghan citizens in Lower Doan and Kakrak villages in the Shahid-e-Hassas district of Uruzgan province established a new check point after an endorsement from a local shura, April 8.
The decision to build the new checkpoint came after a partnered force of Afghan and coalition soldiers reclaimed a checkpoint from insurgents near the villages, April 6.
The checkpoint was taken from Afghan police forces on March 23 when Taliban insurgents attacked and killed a police commander and several villagers, including a young boy, when firing at a mosque nearby, according to an Afghan National Police official.
1After the combined Afghan and U.S. force seized the checkpoint from insurgents, local villagers ultimately decided to build a new checkpoint at an alternate location that would better protect them from insurgent attacks.
A coalition Special Operations force team leader said the villagers spent a day deliberating the location of the new checkpoint, and ultimately decided they would commit to protecting local citizens and to keep insurgents out of their villages.
“They realize it’s ultimately up to them to keep insurgents out of their villages,” said the SOF Team leader.
