Asia-Pacific

37 insurgents join Afghan peace process: NATO

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-07 16:24

KABUL - A total of 37 Taliban insurgents have given up insurgency and joined reintegration process in Afghanistan's Kunar province, some 185 km east of capital city Kabul, spokesman of NATO-led forces said on Monday.

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"We are seeing early success of the Afghan-led reintegration program. Just this week 37 former insurgents joined the peace process and reintegrated into Afghan society in the Ghazi Abad District of Kunar," Brigadier-General Josef Blotz told reporters in a weekly press conference.  

The spokesman of more than 140,000 NATO-led forces said the ex-insurgents were under the command of Arsala Khan.

Ghazi Abad and Pech Valley are the districts in Kunar province have witnessed bloody battles over the past couple of weeks which according to Afghan officials left over 70 civilians including nine children dead.

The NATO-led forces has claimed responsibility for killing nine Afghan children in Kunar province and rendered apology for the mistake.

However, President Hamid Karzai has strongly condemned harming civilians and said on Sunday that civilian deaths in NATO operations were intolerable.