Damak, June 23:

A team of the United Nations Mission in Nepal today began the process of verification of the People’s Liberation Army soldiers at the Tandi sub-camp of the first division of the PLA.

This is part of the second stage of verification of the PLA soldiers.

The UN team has interviewed over 1,500 PLA soldiers in the division headquarters at Chulachuli and at the Danabari sub-camp of the PLA’s first division.

The division headquarters is shying away from providing information on the number of PLA personnel interviewed so far. Commander of the PLA’s first division headquarters, Parwana, said they would not disclose the number of PLA personnel that had been interviewed so far.

The 120-member UNMIN team led by Mike Tuman has been interviewing PLA personnel of the PLA’s first division since last Tuesday.

The team asked the combatants when they were recruited, how old they were, the number of battles they had fought, the places where the battles took place and their knowledge of handling firearms, a source said.

Some 3,221 PLA personnel of the PLA’s first division at the division headquarters and three sub-camps at Tandi, Yansila and Danabari of Morang were registered during the first phase of the verification. Some 340 weapons and explosives of the PLA were stored in two containers at the division headquarters.

Meanwhile, the Jhapa chapter of the FNJ has complained that it is not reasonable to bar

local journalists from entering the camps to gather details of the PLA verification.

The PLA’s first division headquarters has barred journalists from entering the camps.