Ex-militants receive vocational training

HERAT CITY (PAN): A number of former insurgents, who reconciled with the government in the Shindand district of western Herat province, have joined a vocational training programme, an official said on Tuesday.

Funded by the High Peace Council, the six-months course was launched by the Ministry of Labour, Social Affairs, Martyrs and Disabled, said Ahmad Yama Amini, the High Peace Council secretary for western zone.

Without revealing the cost, he said the programme involved 100 students, half of them ex-militants, who were being taught different skills like repairing mobile phones, vehicles, motorcycles, with some learning construction methods.

He said female family members and children of surrendering rebels were being trained in carpet-weaving and making handicrafts.

A former rebel, Mullah Daud, said he had joined the insurgency five years ago. He recalled fighting offered him nothing but poverty and a miserable life. “I am happy getting a good opportunity to become a professional in a particular field to earn money and feed my family,” he said.

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