Peace is beginning to flower across Afghanistan with about 5% of Taliban fighters nationwide already surrendering, to re-join civil society through the Afghan Peace and Reintegration Program, or APRP, paid for by donors like the United States and Saudi Arabia.

“So far, we’ve got about 1,740 former fighters (five percent of the estimated total) who have formally joined the reintegration process. On top of this, the High Peace Council has at least another 40 to 45 groups in negotiation across the country — maybe as many as another 2,000 fighters. And much of this activity has emerged literally in the past four months or so.”

So said British Army Major General Phil Jones, of NATO’s International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), who has been working on the nascent peace-building effort since it started almost a year ago when a 30 page strategy document was signed by presidential decree following the convening of a 70-member National Consultative Peace Jirga in Kabul.

As the US-led Nato forces in Afghanistan are preparing for a scheduled drawdown next month, President Hamid Karzai’s administration has stepped up its efforts to win over Taliban insurgents and the plan, with the full backing of the United States, seems to be working. Insurgents, including key commanders, are surrending every day to the authorities, pledging to obey the Constitution and renouncing violence.