Crossword Genius

Troops drunk; one missing in action abroad (7)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

militia

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'troops' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'drunk one missing in action abroad' is the wordplay.
I cannot quite understand how this works, but
'drunk' could be 'lit' (I've seen this in another clue) and 'lit' is found in the answer.
'one' could be 'i' (Roman numeral) and 'i' is located in the answer.
The remaining letters 'mia' is a valid word which might be clued in a way I don't see.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for militia that I've seen before include "Group of citizen soldiers" , "Army of non-professional soldiers" , "Band of civilian soldiers" , "Force raised for emergency" , "Troops" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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