According to the media reports, nine people were killed in a clash between two armed groups in the Parwan province last week. This armed clash occurred between two armed groups who were adequately supplied with illegal weapons. According to the eye-witnesses, women and children were also included in the victims. It all started with a verbal dispute between local armed group leaders Ainuddin and Safa which later on turned into a blood-shed. President Hamid Karzai has telephoned the provincial province to bring into justice the culprits of this bloody incident.

This is not the first occasion when illegal armed groups got into clash, resulting in the death of a large number of people from both the sides. The sad fact about these incidents is that they usually accompany the loss of lives of innocent and neutral people. People of the area criticized the weak role of security forces in the area that seemed helpless in controlling these strong and bullying armed groups. At the same time, this incident raised questions about the wide-spread acquisition and use of illegal arms in the area.

It is a sad fact that in most of the rural and far-flung areas of the country, there exist very strong armed groups which are so strong that mostly they intimidate the security setup of government present in the area and challenge the writ of government. They are formed and run by a number of influential members of society like tribal chiefs, political leaders, top-government office bearers, rich business owners and others. Usually these groups are made with an intention of carrying out illegal activities that cannot be accomplished by legal means. Usually, these groups clash with each other on the collision of interests and the issue comes into the lime-light; otherwise, these groups are secretly bustling out of the eyes of public and media.

Concerns over the existence and strength of these groups have been expressed many times in past as well but no one dared to take any concrete step as very strong people were at the back of these groups. Their godfathers can not only cause violence by using their groups but they can also make great uproar on political grounds as some of them are office-bearers of some of the critical posts in the government.

The above problem is not so small to be ignored or filed up with some formal investigation as the illegal activities of these groups are increasing very rampantly and if they were not timely and properly controlled, they may jeopardize the security of the country. At the same time, strict measures should be followed to stop the easy flow of illegal arms in the tribal and rural areas of the country.