Reintegration of disarmed combatants begins

Ahmad Mursal is a 42-year-old ex-soldier who has recently exchanged his AK-47 assault rifle for a plough. After a quarter of a century in the military, he is adjusting to his new job as a farmer just outside the northeastern city of Konduz. Mursal, who still has his militia scarf wrapped around his head, handed in his rifle last week during a pilot disarmament programme in the region, receiving in return US $200, household food, wheat and fertilisers. His package included the a cow, as part of the UN-backed Disarmament Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR) programme. "It is promising, and so far so good, I hope the situation will let us continue this new life and new career," the father of six told IRIN. Mursal said he was happy because now at least he had control over his future; before he had been a virtual slave to his commander. The DDR pilot phase started in Konduz in late October, and so far more than 1,000 combatants have been disarmed in the province. According to UN officials, they have so far been able to reintegrate 880 of these through a combination of vocational training, job placement, and mine clearance. The DDR programme is being piloted in Konduz and the southern city of Gardez; other pilot phases are planned for the capital, Kabul, and the northern city of Mazar-e Sharif. The pilot phases are targeting some 6,000 soldiers and militiamen. According to UN, the main phase of the DDR process will start some time next year and target 94,000 soldiers. According to the Afghanistan New Beginning Programme ANBP (the official title of the DDR programme), ex-soldiers are being offered a series of choices with the help of local and international aid agencies operating in the DDR regions. Most of those men who have come forward appear to be tired of military life. "Preferences thus far have been for agricultural packages. There has been little indication from ex-officers and soldiers that they would like to join the Afghan National Army and National Police," Jim Ocitti, an ANBP spokesman, told IRIN in Konduz. Despite the modest successes achieved, men like Mursal face a number of challenges if they are to successfully make the transition from soldier to gainfully employed civilian. In this context it is worth noting that despite efforts to persuade local warlords and commanders to store their weapons in one place, cities like Konduz are awash with small arms. Militia leaders also remain powerful, well funded and unwilling to disarm. "Our local commanders have more weapons and more money than in years before, so they may force us to take up arms again if they are not addressed," Gholam Nabi, an ex-soldier, told IRIN. He had just joined a tinsmith's shop as part of a retraining programme for disarmed soldier in Emam Saheb, 80 km north of Konduz city. Highlighting some of the problems, Gholam Nabi said he had originally left military life when the Afghan mujahidin had taken Kabul in the 1990s. "But I was forced to take up arms again when rivalries emerged among local commanders," he said, noting he had been forced to leave school early and compelled to fight against invading Russian forces in the 1980s. "I hope I will not have to leave this [vocational training] and hope to learn a bit of reading and writing too," said the father of five, who is to take a literacy course as part of his reintegration package while undergoing vocational training. An ex-soldier who declined to be named said his commander had been waiting for him right outside the ANBP compound as he emerged with his food package and cash voucher, and forced him to share what he had received in the first week of DDR. "He [the commander] said I had handed in his US $300-dollar Kalashnikov [AK-47] and should therefore share what I had obtained," said the disarmed soldier, adding that he had later resolved the issue with the help of village elders. UN officials said there were indications that many soldiers wanted to take advantage of the multimillion dollar Japanese-sponsored DDR programme. "The DDR process in Konduz has progressed without major hitches, largely because of the support given by the key stakeholders, and the realisation by the population that this process is not just about weapons collection, but the reintegration of ex-soldiers into their communities," Ocitti said. Those operating the ANBP in Konduz said many lessons had been learnt which would be useful when the main disarmament phase began next year. "We got over 43 complaints that some commanders forced disarmed solders to share or give back the UN packages they [soldiers] had received as a result of the DDR," Ahmad Javid, an ANBP programme officer in Konduz, told IRIN.