Military

DATE=1/13/02

TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT

TITLE=AFGHANISTAN / SECURITY (L-ONLY)

NUMBER=2-285192

BYLINE=ALISHA RYU

DATELINE=KABUL

INTERNET=

CONTENT=

VOICED AT=

INTRO: Afghanistan's Defense Ministry has announced that it will keep more than a thousand armed soldiers in the capital, Kabul, despite government orders for all armed men to leave the city. V-O-A's Alisha Ryu in Kabul has details.

TEXT: A senior Defense Ministry official says 15-hundred troops will stay in the capital until a properly-trained Afghan police force is in place. The official says the soldiers will function only as an emergency security team to deal with murderers and armed criminal gangs. The troops will be confined to military bases around the city and will not be permitted to roam around Kabul with weapons.

The announcement, nevertheless, defies recent efforts by the Interior Ministry to oust all armed men from the capital and declare the city weapon-free. The ministry as well as interim government chairman, Hamid Karzai have been anxious to prove to international observers that the government is working to pacify a nation awash in guns.

The observers are worried that the weapons may be used by rival factions and

ethnic groups to settle old scores and to fight for power during the

political transition.

Mr. Karzai told V-O-A Sunday that various militias throughout the country

are being aggressively disarmed. He says many people are reporting improved

security in their neighborhoods.

/// KARZAI ACT ///

It is stabilizing. It's not that bad. We had some problems in Kabul, very

minor incidents. The Interior minister has taken it seriously and it will

be alright. It's an area where we will be very serious and we will not be

lenient at all.

/// END ACT ///

Meanwhile, in eastern Afghanistan, U-S warplanes Sunday continued to bomb

suspected al-Qaida and Taleban hideouts in Zhawar, 30 kilometers southwest

of Khost in Paktia province. The planes reportedly targeted cave complexes

in the area where al-Qaida members were believed to be regrouping after

escaping intense U-S bombardments in Tora Bora last month.

In the southern city of Kandahar, the U-S military has transferred 30 more

Taleban and al-Qaida prisoners by plane to a high-security facility in

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. The first group of 20 prisoners left Afghanistan

Thursday and arrived in Cuba the following day. (Signed)

NEB/AR/RH