UNAMA-Kabul, February 26, 2006

The United Nations-backed effort to disband private militias in Afghanistan received a boost in late February when commanders loyal to the legendary General Abdul Rashid Dostum surrendered hundreds of weapons during a ceremony in the northern town of Shiberghan. The development came just three days after a cabinet meeting of the Afghanistan government on February 20 approved the modus operandi of the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) process.

"The decision by these commanders to turn in their arms is a great success for the DIAG process and will further increase peace and stability in the region," the armed forces chief of staff told reporters after the turbanned former fighters had deposited almost 400 weapons on tables laid out in Gen. Dostum’s main compound in the provincial capital of Jowzjan.

The weapons haul included rocket propelled grenade launchers, machine guns, carbines, an anti-aircraft gun and more than 100 AK-47 assault rifles. The commanders also handed over boxes of live ammunition and anti-tank mines.

The ceremony was attended by Yusuf Nuristani, first deputy minister of defence and vice-chairman of the Disarmament and Reintegration Commission, as well as representatives of UNAMA, diplomats, mullahs and other local and foreign dignitaries.

Gen. Dostum heads the Junbish-e Milli party from his Shiberghan headquarters and has played a prominent role in the recent history of Afghanistan. A former worker in the oil and gas sector, he built up a militia which fought for the Najibullah government in the late 1980s before aligning with mujahedeen forces in 1992. His forces were involved in the factional fighting of the 1990s and opposed the Taliban regime, taking part in the Northern Alliance push that toppled the radical Islamic fundamentalist movement in 2001.

Almost 18,000 weapons and more than 100,000 pieces of ammunition have been handed over to weapons collection teams since the DIAG process was launched in June 2005. The Afghanistan Compact, launched at the London Conference earlier this year, envisages that all illegal armed groups will be disbanded by the end of next year.