More than 300 militants surrender – but not in Nigeria

More than 300 Taliban militants have quit the armed outfit and handed over their weapons to local authorities in the northern Samangan and western Badghis provinces of Afghanistan.

After years of fighting against government in parts of Samangan province, the former militants surrendered to authorities at a ceremony attended by civil and military officials on Tuesday.

The rebels have vowed to defend the government against insurgents.

Speaking during the ceremony, Raes Ibrahim, a militant leader, said the dominant role of foreign nationals in the local outfit and their barbaric acts against locals were a stigma for him and he therefore decided to surrender to the government.

Assuring the government of his support, the former Taliban commander vowed to defend the establishment against foreign insurgent fighters.

He called on the government to build roads, clinics and schools, and provide job opportunities to the local people, which he said would make it harder for the Taliban outfit to recruit fighters.

“To be frank, we are fed up with the presence of foreign nationals dominating the local Taliban group,” another former Taliban commander, Mullah Almas, told Xinhua.

He said that militants from “foreign countries are in command of Taliban fighters and committing atrocities against locals”.

On the same day, 11 Taliban groups comprising 80 fighters laid down their arms and joined the government-backed peace process in Jawand district of the western Badghis province.

More than 10,000 armed militants have renounced the violence and joined the government-initiated reconciliation process across the country over the last six years, according to Afghan High Peace Council officials.