Scrap Metal Dispute Leads to Mortar Fire

Two militias exchanged mortar fire for the second time this week, just north of the US Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan in a dispute over scrap metal.

The dispute has escalated over an issue of who owes who money and who should have access to profits generated by some scrap metal.

The latest acts of violence come after President Hamid Karzai appealed to foreign parties for subsidies to disarm unruly warlords. Such disputes have become common place and have been a threat to Karzai’s government since the overthrow of the Taliban in 2001.

The subsidies would be used to pay an estimated 100,000 militia men until the UN backed disarmament programme was executed. Under the plan, private armies would be disbanded with fighters going to the national army or helping to rebuild Afghanistan.

For more information on ammunition, click here.