The latest round of clashes pitting loyalists of General Abdul Rashid Dostum against those of his rival, General Muhammad Atta, have left more than a dozen people dead. Yet both powerful warlords say that they are committed to the central government’s plan to systematically disarm regional militia groups such as those fighting on their behalf in northern Afghanistan.

Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek, is head of Junbesh-i-Milli-yi-Islami (National Islamic Movement) and a military advisor to Afghan Transitional Administration chairman Hamid Karzai. Atta, his arch rival, is an ethnic Tajik and a commander of the powerful Jamiyat-i-Islami (Islamic Society) group.

The men have spent years battling for control of Mazar-i-Sharif, Afghanistan’s third-largest city. They have a number of militia groups under their control. And it is precisely such groups that Kabul hopes eventually to disarm through its United Nations-sponsored demilitarisation project. Deputy Defence Minister Gulzarak Zadran, a member of the government’s Disarmament Commission, would not divulge the budget or the scope of the two-year project, but did say that Dostum and Atta loyalists would be among those disarmed. Dostum spokesman Faizullah Zaki said Dostum was ready to disarm all the forces under his control. But he warned that smaller groups and armed individuals will prove a more difficult target.

"General Dostum is one of the political figures who started the disarmament process a few months ago," Zaki said. "On his own initiative, he unilaterally disarmed several thousand armed people in the north. But there will not be a disarmament process unless all groups participate and co-operate in it. There is no doubt that Dostum is in favour of disarmament in the north, as well as in the whole country."

Dostum’s rival, Atta, says his men are also ready to lay down their weapons as long as the government provides them with jobs and other assistance to help them reintegrate. "We are ready (to disarm). The government, the Defence Ministry and the Disarmament Commission should make their decision," Atta said. "But in return, we ask them to provide job opportunities and income opportunities for our mujahideen who fought for the country. The process of disarmament and demilitarisation should run in tandem with the implementation of the project to find employment and other opportunities for people who give up their weapons. This is our proposition."

The disarmament process could affect tens of thousands of armed men throughout the country, some of whom have been fighting since the Soviet occupation in the early 1980s. Most mujahideen have little or no education or job qualifications—in a sense, fighting is their only "profession".

Atta’s deputy Yunoos Zalmai said the government must lead the way in giving armed fighters a reason to give up their weapons and pursue a different way of life. "Why have we not disarmed so far? To whom should we give our weapons? Disarmament requires a special organisation, a special project," Zalmai said. "We need to rebuild our national army. Our new army will recruit 70,000 people, but there are some 200,000 armed people. Who will be recruited to the army and what will happen to the rest of them? Well, in the end, it is not our responsibility. Our government has to think about it. We are in charge of only one region. We are waiting for our government to take positive steps."

Deputy Defence Minister Zadran says that under the disarmament plan, the former mujahideen will have help finding employment, with job training and special loans provided. Money allocated for the plan includes US$ 50 million from the Japanese government. But Tokyo and the UN’s Kabul office announced this month that no money will be dispensed until the Defence Ministry undergoes a number of structural reforms.