About 18 Taliban insurgents including their two commanders have surrendered their weapons in northern Kunduz province and joined the government peace and reconciliation programme, local officials said Monday.
The provincial head of the High Peace Council, Asadullah Omarkhel, said that 18 fighters including their commanders Qari Bashr and Mullah Zaman formally renounced their Taliban ties on Sunday as they handed their weapons over to the government.
The insurgents have been fighting against security forces in the several parts of Kunduz, he said.
He said that with these men in the peace process he hopes security will improve in the area where they had been active.
More than 600 insurgents have joined the peace process in the past several months, Omarkhel said.