"The removal of the heavy weapons from the 7th and 8th army corps will begin tomorrow (Friday) at 9:30 am," deputy chief of staff General Ishaq Noori told reporters in the main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif on Thursday.

After collection the weapons will be stored in two locations and guarded by non-partisan Afghan national army troops who have arrived in the troubled city, he said.

The disarmament drive is expected to collect more than 100 tanks and heavy weapons from the 7th and 8th corps which are loyal to ethnic Tajik General Atta Mohammad and his Uzbek rival General Abdul Rashid Dostam, respectively.

Serviceable weapons and armoured vehicles would be later taken to Kabul for use by the new Afghan national army, Noori said.

The removal of the heavy weapons will be observed by defence ministry officials, UN representatives and troops from the local British-run provincial reconstruction team (PRT), the general said.

"The PRT in Mazar-i-Sharif fully supports the programme for the removal of the heavy weapons," PRT commander Colonel Dickie Davies said.

Some 80 British army soldiers, mostly Gurkhas, are based in Mazar-i-Sharif as the backbone of the PRT helping with security sector reforms in the north.

Removal of the weapons is a local initiative and is not linked to the national disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration (DDR) drive launched last month which is expected to moved to northern Balkh province following the removal of the heavy weapons, General Noori explained.

Fighting between Dostam's Junbish and Mohammad's Jamiat faction has claimed dozens of lives this year.

A UN Security Council mission described last month's clashes near Mazar-i-Sharif as "the heaviest factional fighting since the start of the Bonn process" after the fall of the Taliban two years ago.

Reining in powerful warlords and disarming some 100,000 militiamen are among the major challenges facing President Hamid Karzai as he attempts to extend his authority to the provinces.

WAR.WIRE