ISLAMABAD, Aug 18: Pakistan is to close hundreds of illegal weapons outlets in an attempt to change the nation’s “Kalashnikov culture” and reduce gun-related killings, which claim thousands of lives each year, officials said on Sunday.

Authorities in Northwest Frontier Province, a lawless tribal area which borders Afghanistan and is infamous for violent clashes between rival clans, said that weapons markets there would be closed following instructions from Islamabad.

“After receiving written orders from the Interior Ministry ... we have issued notices to all area administrators to close down all illegal arms markets,” said an official.

“The administration of Jamrud Khyber district (close to the Khyber pass into Afghanistan) has already closed one weapons market of 200 shops, and on Sunday the administration ordered the closure of another market there which comprises 150 shops.”

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairman Afrasiab Khattak said, however, the problem had spread throughout the country and that Pakistan was now “awash” with weapons that were used in thousands of killings each year.

“Pakistan’s gun culture goes back a long way in the tribal areas, but that has now spread throughout Pakistan. Now we have a national ‘Kalshnikov culture’ with easy access to all manner of sophisticated weapons,” he said.

“We don’t have precise figures, particularly for remote areas, but it is certain that thousands of people are killed each year when guns are used in crimes and personal disputes,” he said.

In a major operation last year police arrested more than 600 people across Pakistan in a drive to curb the ownership of illegal weapons and reduce sectarian violence and crime.

The crackdown led to the recovery of more than 1,000 illicit firearms, with half of them collected from the southern province of Sindh.

The campaign came after a two-week amnesty for the surrender of illegal weapons which netted nearly 84,000 weapons — including Kalashnikov assault-rifles, carbines, pistols and 15 anti-aircraft guns — as well as approximately 163,000 rounds of ammunition.

But officials privately admitted the number of arms surrendered during the amnesty — though higher than similar drives in the past — was insignificant given that “millions” of unauthorized weapons remained in circulation.—AFP