Good response to disarmament in north

Some 400 light and heavy weapons have been collected so far since a disarmament programme was started in the northern district of Sholgareh, southwest of Mazar-e Sharif. "I think it's been a good start," UN spokesman in the Afghan capital, Kabul, David Singh told IRIN on Monday. The exercise is taking place under the auspices of the multi-party Security Commission in Mazar-e-Sharif, observed and facilitated by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA). "There has been overwhelming support from the local community," Singh added, saying that there was an estimated 1,200 weapons in total to be collected. Earlier, he told reporters that this was the first disarmament in Afghanistan that had been carried out voluntarily by factions. The main parties involved in laying down their arms are the Jamiat, Jumbesh, and Hizb-e-Wahdat factions which are based in an area which has been the scene of four separate conflicts over the past six months. "Commanders of the various factions have been instructed to bring their weapons to three collection points with elders supervising the process," he explained. Once collected the arms will be transported to military depots outside of Mazar-e Sharif belonging to the various parties. There the weapons will be registered and kept under guard by Jamiat and Jumbesh forces. However, UNAMA has the right to monitor the safe-keeping of the arms. Speaking about the security situation in Sholgareh, the UN spokesman described it as "calm" since the disarmament began last week. On Sunday, local commanders met with the Security Commission in Mazar and decided to establish, among other things, a local police force, to stop collecting agricultural taxes and to guarantee the security of all international staff. Singh added there had been widespread agreement that disarmament should continue and be expanded across the region.