KABUL, Afghanistan (AP) - Authorities pressed the pace of disarmament for Afghanistan's unruly militias Thursday, pledging to rid the country of heavy weapons in time for summer elections and extending demobilization programs to a former Taliban stronghold. At a ceremony in Kabul, Afghan Ministry of Defense officials formally took possession of the latest batch of armor from a factional militia brigade.
| "Yesssh! Mahmoud, lookie! A brand-spanking new beat up old T-55! With rich Corinthian leather!" |
Meanwhile, the United Nations said a scheme to disarm fighters and help them find regular jobs would begin in the southern city of Kandahar, once the heart of the hardline Taliban movement, and in central Bamiyan province later this month. The hand-over Thursday of 37 Soviet-built tanks and about 30 other aging armored vehicles means that about one-quarter of all the heavy weaponry in Kabul have been removed from the city and placed in sites guarded by government troops. NATO-led peacekeepers helping organize the transfer expressed hope that Kabul could be free of heavy weapons in time for this summer's national elections. But Deputy Defense Minister Rahim Wardak voiced a loftier goal - rounding up before the vote all the big guns left over from more than two decades of war. "Most of the heavy weapons are already with the (regional militia) corps, so it should be no problem," Wardak told The Associated Press after the ceremony. "It is essential for the security of the country and of the elections."
| Naah, what's important is that any Talibanis who pop up get smacked. |
More than two years later, the national army has only about 10 percent of its targeted 70,000 men, and warlords and faction leaders - many of them in prominent government posts - still have de facto control of much of the country. Officials say it is vital that commanders in the west and south now follow the lead of those in Kabul and the north - regardless of past enmities.
"You want me to do what?"
"Surrender your heavy weapons."
"You're dreaming. Why would I do that?"
"Do you know what a cluster bomb is?"
"Umm, ... here are the keys to the tank. Drive safe, now!" |
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