Some hopeful signs out of the Afghan army Associated Press Copyright 2013 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Updated 12:17 pm, Monday, April 15, 2013 Along the way, his officers sat down with tribal elders to win support for the military and set up local police forces to defend their villages from the Taliban. Unlike past operations where American and coalition forces were fighting alongside Afghan soldiers or going into the field alone, both sides expressed a confidence in Afghanistan's army that was not present as little as one year ago. There have been deep questions about the ability of the Afghan army to take the fight to the insurgency with international combat troops due to leave the country by the end of 2014. Gen.