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UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 6 March 2006

AFGHANISTAN: Former militia leaders surrender arms

KABUL, 6 Mar 2006 (IRIN) - Nine former militia leaders in Afghanistan's southern Ghazni province have voluntarily surrendered over 40 mt of ammunition, as well as more than 750 light and heavy weapons, to the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) programme, officials from the UN-backed initiative said on Monday in the Afghan capital, Kabul.

Following the disarmament of militia forces under the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) of ex-combatants programme, completed in late June, the Afghan government and the UN are now focusing on the DIAG initiative.

The programme is trying to focus on up to 2,000 illegal militias that still exist and threaten Afghanistan’s stability. Most have access to stocks of heavy and light weapons that need to be confiscated before the country can truly emerge into an era peace. Many of the militias are no longer active but until their weapons are disposed of and the members employed elsewhere, the threat remains.

More than 60,000 former combatants have been disarmed under the DDR initiative, which took the international community almost 20 months and cost more than US $150 million to complete. In addition to the demobilisation of ex-combatants, about 35,000 light and medium weapons and 11,004 heavy arms, such as artillery pieces and multiple-rocket launchers, were collected across the country as part of the DDR process.

“Nine ex-commanders surrendered 42 mt of ammunition, as well as a mixture of 777 light and heavy weapons, including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades [RPGs] to the DIAG weapons collection team in Ghazni," Ahmad Jan Nawzadi, public information officer for the DIAG programme, said.

"The arms and ammunition will be transferred to Pol-i-Charki central weapons collection point in Kabul. They will be used by the security forces of Afghanistan if serviceable and destroyed if in poor condition," Nawzadi added.

By voluntarily surrendering their weapons, the former militia leaders are not only complying with the law regulating the possession of weapons in Afghanistan, but also actively supporting the DIAG programme, a process which is intended to consolidate peace and promote the rule of law in Afghanistan, DIAG officials said in a statement.

The challenge of collecting weapons in a country scarred by over two decades of conflict is far from over. There are still between 1,800 and 2,000 illegal armed groups still threatening stability across the country, according to DIAG.

Financed by the Japanese government and overseen by the United Nations, DIAG is run by the Afghan interior and defence ministries and the national security agency.

The DIAG process, launched in June 2005, has led to the removal of 17,900 weapons as more than 110,000 rounds of ammunition from across Afghanistan.

[ENDS]

This material comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian information unit, but May not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. All materials copyright © UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 2006