overrun their first provincial capital since the 2001 US invasion of Afghanistan.
It was subsequently retaken by government forces, but the Taliban are targeting major cities in what analysts say is a tactical strategy to be in a position of strength before any possible peace talks with the government.
The bloody stalemate has taken a heavy toll on civilians, forcing tens of thousands to flee their homes.
Kasab, located in Chardarah, is replete with beige-and-green farms and fruit orchards, and littered with the detritus of war — mangled remains of burnt-out vehicles and abandoned houses scarred by bullets.
Established in 2010, the ALP are deployed in 29 of Afghanistan’s 34 provinces, a force of around 30,000 fighters that President Ashraf Ghani’s government plans to scale up to 45,000, according to a recent report by the International Crisis Group (ICG).
But the ICG said the proliferation of what it called “cheap but dangerous” village defence forces, seen as a cornerstone of the US exit strategy from Afghanistan, was exacerbating the Taliban insurgency rather than quelling it.
With inadequate training, a lack of government oversight and a pervasive culture of corruption and impunity, some ALP units have morphed into brutal criminal gangs.
In the northern province of Faryab, one unit was accused of using a dry well filled with snakes as a torture chamber, the ICG said.
Another used a captive in an open field for target practice. And one band of ALP fighters dragged a village elder, who complained about their abusive behaviour, behind a pickup truck until he was dead.
Their terrifying tactics including theft, rape and drug trafficking have turned some villages into ghost towns while residents have chased them out of other areas, paving the way for the Taliban.
The rise of ALP and other militia armies, riven with internecine rivalries, has stoked fears of strife in a nation still haunted by a devastating civil war in the 1990s that set the stage for a Taliban takeover.
Despite arguments by officials that ALP forces are a crucial tripwire for insurgents, they are often outgunned by the Taliban and are estimated to be losing men at three to six times the rate of regular security forces.
Commander Gul Mohamed said the Taliban in May captured 23 fighters of his ALP unit in Gurtepa area of Kunduz after surrounding them for three days.
“We sent desperate radio messages to ANA (the Afghan National Army) for help — but none came,” he told AFP in a safe house in Kunduz city, fingering his prayer beads.
The fighters were released with the intervention of village elders after striking an unusual deal — the men pledged two male relatives each as guarantors who would be killed if the men returned to ALP.
“It is ANA’s job to fight the Taliban, but we (ALP) are forced to fight, sacrifice and die everyday,” Gul said.