The process that started Jan. 7 concluded Monday with the discharge of 268 individuals in Rolpa district in western Nepal where the Maoist insurgency started in 1996.

"In all, 2,394 young men and women who joined the Maoist army as minors, and late recruits, have been discharged in seven cantonments across Nepal in the past month," the U.N. mission, also known as UNMIN, said in a statement.

The UNMIN had disqualified 2,973 individuals, either because they were minors or were recruited in the Maoist army after the cease-fire in May 2006 after which the insurgency ended.

The discharged combatants are entitled to formal schooling, vocational training, training as health workers, and help to set up micro- enterprises sponsored by the government of Nepal and the United Nations.

Over 19,000 legitimate combatants are yet to be dealt with. While the Maoist party wants mass integration of them in the country's army, other political parties only want those who pass the national army's recruitment criterion to be integrated.