MAZAR-I-SHARIF (PAN): In addition to the Taliban, illegal armed groups are a threat to security in northern Afghanistan, the Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) head said on Sunday.
In an exclusive interview with Pajhwok Afghan News, Gen. Abdul Manan said dozens of illegal armed groups in the north destabilised the region, paving the way for drug and weapons trafficking.
“The Taliban fighters are not as active as the former commanders to threaten security of the northern zone,” he said.
Since its inception, he said, DIAG had registered 500 illegal armed groups in the northern zone. He added 154 groups had been disarmed so far, with others likely to follow suit in the near future.
Since the beginning of the disbandment programme, 10,300 light weapons and 2,423 caches of ammunitions have been seized in the zone, where more than 8,000 tonnes of ammunitions have been received.
Gen Manan said 2,000 tonnes of the ammunitions had been handed to the 209th Shaheen Military Corps. Eighteen districts have been cleared of armed groups, he concluded.