AFGHANISTAN: WEAPONS FROM DEFENCE MINISTER'S FACTION MOVED FROM PANJSHER VALLEY STRONGHOLD.

Record ID: 292178

  • Title: AFGHANISTAN: WEAPONS FROM DEFENCE MINISTER'S FACTION MOVED FROM PANJSHER VALLEY STRONGHOLD.
  • Date: 11th December 2003
  • Summary: (W3) PANJSHER VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN (DECEMBER 10, 2003) (REUTERS) 1. GV: PANJSHER VALLEY PASS 0.04 2. MCU: BILLBOARD WITH PHOTO OF SLAIN AFGHAN MILITARY COMMANDER AHMAD SHAH MASOOD 0.09 3. GV: TRUCKS CARRYING HEAVY WEAPONS WAITING TO LEAVE FOR KABUL 0.14 4. GV/MV: TRUCKS CARRYING MISSILES AND ROCKET LAUNCHERS IN THE VALLEY (2 SHOTS)
  • Embargoed: 26th December 2003 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: PANJSHER VALLEY, AFGHANISTAN
  • Country: Afghanistan
  • Reuters ID: LVA11XQHSX5FMQZHKWN0OXCDMBBF
  • Story Text: Afghan minister's faction moves Soviet-designed
    weaponry ranging from SCUD missiles to multiple rocket
    launchers from its Panjsher Valley stronghold.



    A convoy of Soviet-designed weaponry ranging from
    SCUD surface-to-surface missiles, to tanks, field guns and
    multiple rocket launchers wove through the rugged Panjsher
    Valley on Wednesday (December 10) under the direction of
    international peacekeepers.

    The weapons, which belong to the faction loyal to
    Afghanistan's powerful Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim
    Fahim, were being moved down from its stronghold north of
    Kabul to hand them over to the fledgling national army.

    The weapons, which have been in the hands of the
    Jamiat-e-Islami faction of Fahim, headed to a site on the
    outskirts of Kabul under a plan approved by President Hamid
    Karzai earlier this month.

    The weapons brought down from the Panjsher included two
    SCUD missile launchers, 13 medium-range missile launchers,
    38 multi-barrelled rocket launchers and 11 tanks, army
    chief of staff Bismillah Khan said at a handover ceremony.

    Analysts believe this is only a proportion of the heavy
    weaponry in the valley, stronghold of the Northern
    Alliance, which helped the United States overthrow the
    Taliban in late 2001.

    Deputy Defence Minister Rahim Wardak said more weapons
    would be moved to Kabul after a Loya Jirga, or Grand
    Assembly, due to meet at the weekend in Kabul to approve a
    new constitution.

    "This is the first convoy and others will follow," he
    said.

    The peacekeepers, the International Security Assistance
    Force, welcomed the move, saying in a statement: "Control
    of heavy weapons is a positive step towards the creation of
    a safe and secure environment for the Afghan people."
    President Hamid Karzai is trying with Western help to
    transform Afghanistan from a country dominated by warlords
    with private militias into a centralised state with a
    national army, but progress has been slow.

    "The process of collecting of weapons from
    Mazar-i-Sharif , moving these heavy weapons from Panjsher
    and also disarmament which started in Kabul are a positive
    aspect for stability and for the national unity for our
    country," said General Bismillah Khan, Army chief of staff.

    The continued existence of militia factions is seen as
    a major threat to plans to hold free elections next year
    and a separate Japanese-sponsored plan is underway intended
    eventually to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate 100,000
    militiamen.

    Analysts say Fahim was faced with a choice of either
    alienating his traditional support base or his new Western
    allies over handing over the heavy weapons, but faced a
    tough job persuading his Panjsheri comrades to give them up.

    A similar effort to persuade factions to hand over heavy
    weapons has started in northern Afghanistan. It has
    achieved mixed results, with the mainly Uzbek faction of
    General Abdul Rashid Dostum accused of dragging its feet.


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