Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostam, who controls much of northern Afghanistan, said the abundant Afghan Military Force (AMF), which groups pro-government factions, is too politicised to be an efficient national force.

"This is true about the whole staff of the army from the top leadership to the last officer and soldier," said the general, who is deputy defence minister and leader of one Afghanistan's largest private militia.

Dostam's statement, made in a letter to President Hamid Karzai seen by AFP, will be seen as a major boost to the fledgling national army, which is struggling to retain troops who remain loyal to former warlord commanders.

Afghanistan is pinning its hopes for restoring peace and extending the authority of Karzai on the Afghan National Army, which is being trained by American, British and French instructors but currently numbers just 4,000 soldiers.

Dostam said the militia forces, which number around 100,000, contain too many ethnic-based local structures. Ethnic rivalries are one of the main cause of hostilities which continue to plague much of the country.

"The reality is that each major army represents a definite ethnic group, reducing its efficiency," he said.

"The existing army should be dismantled in favor of genuine national army in a reasonable time frame through regulated planning."

Dostam also recommended that militia soldiers be withdrawn from cities and towns to let the police become the only security forces patrolling urban areas.

The AMF should first be withdrawn to 15 kilometres (nine miles) outside of the urban areas and then, after three months, their numbers reduced by a third with demobilised soldiers being pensioned off, he said

Also, "All weapons, ammunition, equipment belonging to the existing national army should be handed over to central government (...) and must be stocked under international supervision and released only for meeting the needs of the genuine national army and the police," he said.

WAR.WIRE