“Altogether 16,508 have been categorized in all the cantonments with categorization officially concluding on Thursday,” said Balananda Sharma, coordinator of the secretariat under the Special Committee. [break]
It means not all the combatants verified by the United Nations Mission in Nepal participated in the categorization process. Altogether 19,602 former Maoist fighters were verified by the UN special mission that was in Nepal until January this year to monitor the home-grown peace process.
Though the categorization had concluded in six cantonments on Monday, it completed at the Talbanda cantonment in Kailali on Thursday. Altogether 3,126 combatants were registered by Thursday, said Gopal Singh Bohara, a secretariat member who led the categorization team at the cantonment.
Sharma said the secretariat is processing the categorization data and it would take a few days to find the number of combatants opting for integration. Yet, the initial data has shown that a majority of the Maoist combatants have opted for integration into the national army while around 40 percent of the combatants have chosen voluntary retirement.
In the meantime, around 20 combatants in Kailali changed their mind following a public statement by Maoist Chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal on Wednesday, according to Bohara. Dahal had said that he would seek to increase the integration quota of 6,500.
The completion of the categorization marks a milestone in the five-year peace process.
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