Former militia commanders disarm in northern province

Two former militia commanders in Afghanistan's northern Takhar province have surrendered more than 100 light and heavy weapons to the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) programme, officials from the UN-backed initiative said on Wednesday. "Former commanders Bashir Qanet and Waisuddin Khan surrendered 130 light and heavy weapons including mortars and rocket-propelled grenades to the DIAG weapons collection team in Chah Ab district of Takhar province," Ahmad Jan Nawzadi, a public information officer for the DIAG programme, said from the Afghan capital, Kabul. Nawzadi said that the arms would be transferred to the government’s Policharki weapons collection point in Kabul. Many of the weapons were operational and would be recommissioned for use by the Afghan National Army. The remainder would be destroyed. “There is no need for weapons to be kept outside the government's control and we hope that other commanders will also surrender their arms to the elected government and thus contribute to the stability and development of the war-ravaged country,” Nawzadi said. DIAG officials said that in June 36 letters were handed to Takhar militia commanders and government officials linked with illegal armed groups requesting that they hand over their weapons and disband. Following the disarmament of Afghan militia forces under the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration programme completed in late June 2005, the Afghan government and the UN are focusing on the DIAG initiative. More than 24,000 weapons - including 14,920 operational weapons, 20,935 pieces of boxed and 196,840 pieces of unboxed ammunition - have been handed over to DIAG collection teams since the programme was launched in June 2005. However, officials said the challenge of collecting weapons in a country scarred by more than two decades of fighting was still immense. DIAG estimated that there were up to 2,000 illegal armed groups threatening the country's fragile stability.