Afghans say recent Taliban advances forced them to take up arms

At least 500 residents in Parwan province pick up guns as September 11 withdrawal deadline of US forces creeps closer.

Ghorband Valley, Afghanistan – Zahir Salangi, a member of Afghanistan’s parliament from the northern province of Parwan, had hoped to settle down on a “doshak” (cushion) to catch a quick nap when the sound of gunfire came pouring through the already damaged house he had set up as a base. “I haven’t slept in four days,” he told Al Jazeera last week as he sat up to give orders to the nearly two dozen volunteer fighters he had recruited in the fight against the Taliban. The volunteers say Taliban fighters routinely fire on them from the mountains surrounding the lush valley.