April 11, 2002	Thursday	Muharram 27, 1423

KABUL, April 10: As many as 700,000 people in Afghanistan possess deadly weapons and disarming them is a top priority of the multinational security operation there, the head of French troops in the country said on Wednesday.

“There are approximately 600,000 to 700,000 people in Afghanistan who have either legal or illegal weapons,” Colonel Thierry Mone said.

His comments came as increasing violence throughout the Afghan countryside was prompting fears that security was beginning to unravel.

Mone said although disarmament was a priority set down by International Security Assistance Force head General John McColl, with United Nations cooperation, no programme to achieve this had been put in place.

Many of those carrying weapons fought with the Northern Alliance of ethnic groups opposed to the Taliban.

The interim government has been reluctant to begin removing weapons, which are seen as a status symbol for many, Mone said.—AFP