U.S. eager to replicate Afghan villagers' successful revolt against Taliban

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The uprising in mountain-ringed Gizab is the first of its kind in southern Afghanistan since President Obama dispatched more troops there. (Photos By Rajiv Chandrasekaran/the Washington Post)

A mid-level insurgent commander attends a meeting of local elders in Gizab. After the successful revolt, he promised to leave the Taliban.

A member of the local defense force in Gizab, Afghanistan, patrols in the bazaar. Residents of this village formed a militia in April and drove out Taliban fighters. (Rajiv Chandrasekaran/the Washington Post)

Washington Post Staff Writer
Monday, June 21, 2010

GIZAB, AFGHANISTAN -- The revolt of the Gizab Good Guys began with a clandestine 2 a.m. meeting. By sunrise, 15 angry villagers had set up checkpoints on the main road and captured their first prisoners. In the following hours, their ranks swelled with dozens of rifle-toting neighbors eager to join.

Gunfights erupted and a panicked request for help was sent to the nearest U.S. troops, but the residents of this mountain-ringed hamlet in southern U.S. eager to replicate Afghan villagers' successful revolt against Taliban