Afghan millitants return to arms

Aug 11, 2010


By Zia Ahmadi

HERAT - Militants in Herat province of eastern Afghanistan who laid down their weapons in response to government offers of aid and amnesty are rejoining the insurgency after officials failed to deliver on their promises.

A senior security official told the Institute for War and Peace Reporting (IWPR) that about half the 1,000 militants who had surrendered in the past year were now back fighting against the government.

Both the Afghan government and the international community have made it a priority to persuade members of the Taliban and allied armed groups to defect, and this was the focus of a peace jirga or assembly hosted by President Hamid Karzai in the capital Kabul in June.

Efforts have focused on winning over small groups in return for protection from legal investigations, the provision of jobs and reconstruction projects for their home areas.

However, in a telephone interview with IWPR, Nur Gul, a Taliban commander who surrendered with his 20 armed men last October, said none of the promises he received beforehand had been translated into action.

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