Peace Process in Nepal

Peace in Nepal

Arms registration and storage completes in Kailali and Surkhet

Registration and storage of arms in the two divisional cantonments of the Maoist People’s Liberation Army (PLA) in Kailali and Surkhet districts has concluded.

Following a field visit, special representative of UN Secretary-General in Nepal, Ian Martin, confirmed the completion of arms registration and storage process in the two PLA cantonments.
Martin arrived in Kailali as UN teams were registering and storing the arms of a final group of about 100 of the combatants based at the PLA 7th main cantonment site, a press statement issued by the United Nations Mission to Nepal (UNMIN) said Saturday. He was joined on the ground by senior UN arms monitor, General Jan Erik Wilhelmsen.

Under the procedures established by agreement between the government and CPN (Maoist), the arms have been catalogued and bar-coded by registration teams before being stored on racks inside cargo containers. The containers are locked and subject to round-the-clock UN monitoring.

“With only two sites to go in the East, arms registration and storage is now approaching its conclusion, and that will be an important staging post in the peace process, Martin said, adding, “But the conditions in the cantonments are lagging behind. I intend to raise these concerns with the Government.”

During discussion with Martin, PLA commanders had also complained about of inadequate living conditions in the cantonments, the statement further said.

Two UN experts in the disposal of mines, improvised explosive devices and unexploded ordnance and the members of the Interim Task Force (ITF), which comprises former Gurkha servicemen, also accompanied Martin during the visit.