May 16,2008:
Three years ago, the Afghan
government began a program of collecting weapons, mainly getting them out of
the hands of illegal militias. In that time, DIAG (Disbandment of Illegal Armed
Groups), has collected nearly 40,000 weapons, and over a million rounds of
ammunition. But Afghanistan is estimated to have over five million such weapons
in the hands of civilians. Most of the weapons turned in to DIAG are done so
for the publicity, or to garner some political good will. DIAG has not made a
real dent in the supply of weapons available for criminal activity.