KABUL, Jan. 6 (Xinhuanet) -- Over half of former Afghan combatants have been disarmed as more than 32,000 of ex-soldiers and officers have turned in their arms since last year, a UN official said Thursday.

    "To date 32,210 former military personnel have disarmed and from this number 28,984 have begun their reintegration package," Manoel de Almeida e Silva of UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) told reporters here.

    According to UN sources, between 50,000 and 60,000 former combatants loyal to different warlords and regional leaders had been existed in the post-war nation after the fall of Taliban in late 2001.

    To collect their arms and establish law and order in the war-ravaged country, the Afghan administration launched the UN-backed Disarmament, Demobilization and Reintegration (DDR) program in October 2003.

    Under the project, all irregular militias throughout the country would be disarmed before the parliamentary election slatedfor the Afghan month of Saur that covers parts of April and May next.

    Those former combatants who have laid down their arms and begungoing through reintegration process would receive a financial package ranging from 100 US dollars to 650 US dollars according totheir rank to help them establish their own business.

    However, the Afghan Defense Ministry has identified some 516 commanders whose units have been decommissioned under the process will be entitled to receive between 360 US dollars to 660 US dollars each month to help them in transition into civilian life. Enditem