The government in Kabul has reached an agreement with two rival regional leaders in northern Afghanistan under which they will merge their forces, according to a senior advisor to the Afghan interior minister. There have been repeated outbreaks of factional fighting between soldiers loyal to the two leaders, Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ata Muhammad. The government\'s attempt to broker a deal comes as Kabul begins an ambitious United Nations-backed programme to disarm many of Afghanistan\'s private militias. Afghan officials say that under the deal, armed fighters loyal to General Dostum and General Mohammed will be merged under a single neutral commander to be appointed by Kabul. General Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek and one of the most powerful leaders in northern Afghanistan, is also President Karzai\'s special representative there. General Ata Mohammed, an ethnic Tajik, is a regional army commander with close ties to the defence minister. General Dostam used to be the undisputed power broker in the north, but Ata Mohammed\'s influence has grown since the Tajik-dominated Northern Alliance took over Kabul after the fall of the Taleban. This power shift has led to repeated outbreaks of fighting between the two men\'s militias. The deal to merge their forces is an optimistic attempt to end this continual bickering as the government begins a major disarmament programme, backed by the UN. This programme, launched last week, aims to disarm up to 100,000 private militiamen across the country - either helping them to return to civilian life or integrating them into the new national army. With about 15,000 American, coalition and Nato troops now based in Afghanistan supporting the Kabul government, regional commanders know they have to behave. (BBC)