[Tolo News] Nearly 20 forces of Evil surrendered their weapons on Sunday in western Herat...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
province and joined the government grinding of the peace processor, local officials said.
Provincial Governor Sayed Fazlullah Wahidi said that 19 fighters renounced their Taliban ties as they handed weapons over to the government during in the province.
The forces of Evil have been fighting against the government in the Chesht and Krokh districts of the province, he said.
"This is a very clear message regarding the national solidarity of Afghanistan. They came and joined in the grinding of the peace processor," he said.
Officials of the Provincial Council have urged other forces of Evil to renounce violence and join in the grinding of the peace processor.
More than 1,000 forces of Evil have renounced violence in the province since the grinding of the peace processor began, officials said.
Recently, the Afghan cops have ramped up operations across the country in preparation for the upcoming 2014 elections.
There are over 350,000 Afghan soldiers serving at the moment. Foreign troops are due to leave Afghanistan by the end of 2014, after handing over full security responsibility to the Afghan forces.
Nevertheless, coalition and Afghan officials maintain that nearly all operational oversight has been handed over to the Afghan forces already.