The U.S. Embassy in Afghanistan on Tuesday welcomed recent moves by rival warlords to disarm their forces in the north of the country, calling on both sides to increase their efforts and surrender more weapons to the central government. Disarmament of militias loyal to longtime rivals Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Gen. Atta Mohammed began in late October and has continued slowly despite sporadic clashes. “The United States encourages all parties to redouble their efforts in support of Afghanistan's disarmament goals by effecting the surrender of weapons under their control,'” the U.S. Embassy in Kabul said in a statement. “The process requires that increasing quantities ... of weapons be turned in and registered.” Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek, and Mohammed, an ethnic Tajik, agreed to work together after the Taliban fled from power last year. But battles have repeatedly broken out between the two sides, not only around the northern capital Mazar-e-Sharif, but in neighboring provinces as well. In April, a security commission that included a representative of the United Nations and military officials from both sides was set up in Mazar-e-Sharif to ensure stability and provide a forum to end the conflict. “We commend the security commission in Mazar-e-Sharif for securing the hand-over and registration of more than 1,000 weapons — including machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades — in the Balkh, Samangan and Jawzjan provinces during the last two weeks of November,” the statement said. “These weapons are now in storage subject to monitoring by central government authorities and the United Nations.” Thousands of other weapons have recently been collected in other areas in the north, namely Kunduz. Karzai's administration, whose authority is largely confined to the capital, is trying to form a national army to negate the power of warlords, but that force now only has about 1,200 soldiers. Most of the countryside is dominated by local warlords with vast private armies. (AP)