MAZAR-I-SHARIF (Pajhwok): The number of illegal armed individuals has increased by five times in northern Afghanistan during the past two years, an official said on Thursday.
Disbandment of Illegal Armed Groups (DIAG) program chief for northern region, Gen. Abdul Mannan, said told Pajhwok Afghan News that Taliban militants, who had joined the peace process still totted guns.
He said other groups created in the name of public uprisings and Afghan Local Police (ALP) forces were considered illegal armed groups due to their poor management.
On the other hand, civil society activists accused security officials of taking no action against illegal armed groups and weapons.
Maj. Gen. Sayed Kamal Sadat, the police chief for northern Balkh province, confirmed the presence of irresponsible armed men in his province.
While handing over 20 weapons to DIAG, he told Pajhwok that some powerful individuals carried illegal weapons around Mazar-I-Sharif, the provincial capital.
A civil society activist, Najib Pasoon, said a number of warlords and former war criminals continued to rule on people at gunpoint in the provincial capital and some districts.
Pasoon said uprising groups and ALP forces were also controlled by illegal powerful individuals involved in illegal activities.
About disarming illegal armed individuals, Balkh police chief Kamal Sadat said he could control such groups if ordered by the government leaders.
mds/ma
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