Disarmament Completed in the North

Guns are gradually beginning to disappear from northern Afghanistan with the abolition of two large military units.

Clashes between the two units - the 7th Army Corps, which had been loyal to ethnic Tajik general Atta Mohammad, and the 8th Army Corps, which was under the command of Uzbek general Abdul Rashid Dostum - had been the primary cause of violence in that part of the country over the past several years.

The two militias had long been the only military powers in the north and acted with complete disregard of orders from central government. The units had spent most of their time fighting over land.

Their bloodiest confrontation occurred in October 2003, when a clash between the two factions left up to 50 militia members either dead or wounded.

The government's decision to disband both corps followed that incident.

Militias like the 7th and 8th Corps had been part of the Afghan Militia Forces, but are not part of the newly emerging Afghan National Army. Though they technically fell under the control of the ministry of defence, they also ware typically affiliated with particular political parties or factions.

In place of the two corps, the government has created two new national army units.

Now, 6,171 former militia members have relinquished their arms under the United Nations' Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration, DDR, programme.

Dr Kamal Amini, in charge of DDR in the north, said about 90 per cent of the men have undergone training to learn such skills as de-mining, tailoring, carpentry and mechanics.

Amini said that the DDR process is now completed in the north.

But while the two militias have formally been disbanded and many of its members retrained for civilian jobs, thousands of illegal weapons remain in the region.

General Zahir Azimi, spokesman for Afghanistan's defence ministry, told IWPR that there is no current plan to collect these weapons.

"Only the police and the army may now carry weapons legally and it is up to the police to ensure the law is obeyed,” Azimi said.

"If the situation is out of their control, [the police] can ask for extra help but it is up to them to provide the area's security."

Azimi acknowledged that, given the large number of uncollected weapons in the area, the police may have a hard time establishing security.

"The national police force and the national army are still in their formative days,” he said.

The north is the first zone in Afghanistan where the DDR process has been completed. The programme is still under way in six additional provinces - Kunduz, Jalalabad, Paktia, Kandahar, Herat and Bamyan. When the process concludes in June, 100,000 militia members are due to have given up their weapons.

So far, only 30,000 militia members have completed the process.

However, General Azimi is confident the June deadline will be met.

"We are extremely pleased with the implementation of DDR and we will complete on time whatever the cost," he said.

In the north, local residents have warmly welcomed the project.

"We are tired of guns. When I heard these army corps were to be abolished, I felt the war was over,” said Niaz Gul in Mazar-e-Sharif. “Hopefully people can now live in peace."

But he said he wants the government to collect the illegal arms still in the area.

And some of those who have participated in the disarmament programme warn that if they are not provided jobs as they were promised soon, they could take up arms once again.

Former soldier Mohammad Sardar, 33, joined DDR in November. "We have been promised work but now after more than a month there is no sign of it,” he said. “Every day they keep telling us to come back tomorrow. It's always the same story.”

He said if it continues like this for another month he will be forced to take up arms once again.

"I have been a soldier for the last ten years and it's the only thing I know how to do," he said.

Syed Yaqub Ibrahimi is an IWPR staff reporter in Mazar-e-Sharif.