MAZAR-I-SHARIF, July 20: Rival commanders gathered in this main northern Afghan city on Saturday to discuss a disarmament programme in one of the country’s most volatile districts.

Some 350 weapons have so far been handed over in the Sholgara district of Balkh province, a scene of fierce recent fighting between supporters of rival warlords, Atta Mohammad, a Tajik, and Abdul Rashid Dostum, an Uzbek.—AFP