Afghanistan has Taliban shadow government

LAGHMAN, Afghanistan, Dec. 8 (UPI) -- A Taliban shadow government of police chiefs, judges, administrators and governors already has ruling authority in Afghanistan, officials said.

"These people in the shadow government are running the country now," Khalid Pashtoon, a legislator from Kandahar, told The Washington Post. "They're an important part of the chaos.

Nearly all provinces in Afghanistan now have two governments: the one appointed by the Taliban and the one appointed by President Hamid Karzai and backed by thousands of U.S. troops

Dislodging the shadow government is critical to the success of President Barack Obama's surge strategy, but many Afghans prefer the harsh, yet decisive, authority of the Taliban to the allegedly corrupt and inefficient Karzai government, The Post reported.

"Whether people like (the Taliban) or not, they support them," said Fatima Aziz, a parliament member from Kunduz, where the shadow government emerged during the past year.