Nearly half of all working heavy weapons collected in Afghanistan, UN reports

With momentum building for the collection of arms in Afghanistan as voters prepare to go to the polls in an historic election next month, the United Nations Mission there (UNAMA) today announced that nearly half of all operable and reparable heavy weapons in the country have been turned in.

So far, 1,916 heavy weapons have been cantoned in Jalalabad, Gardez, Kunduz, Mazar-i-Sharif, Kabul, Kandahar and Herat, while the process is scheduled to begin this week in the Panjshir Valley, according to UNAMA spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva.

“The Afghanistan New Beginnings Programme started collecting heavy weapons in Herat just eight days ago and has already moved about 130 of the 286 heavy weapons known to exist in the west,” he said. “Cantonment began in Kandahar just six days ago and already 86 of the 337 heavy weapons in the area have been moved to a cantonment site as well.”

Meanwhile, the number of officers and soldiers who have started their return to civilian life “is rapidly approaching the 17,000 mark,” the spokesman reported.

Those men are beginning the process of reintegration into civil society. So far most have chosen to go into agriculture, while others are seeking training in areas like carpentry, tailoring and metal work. A small percentage has opted to join the national army and the national police.