The British army has begun closing or tearing down some of its military installations in the Irish Republican Army's rural stronghold, in response to the militant group's pledge to disarm.

Troops began pulling down watchtowers at bases and security posts in South Armagh in Northern Ireland, along the border with the Republic of Ireland, on Friday.

The move comes a day after the IRA commanders ordered their units to get rid of their weapons and renounce all violence after a more than 30-year armed struggle against British rule.

Electronic surveilance equipment is hauled away as a British army watchtower in northern Ireland is dismantled.
Electronic surveilance equipment is hauled away as a British army watchtower in northern Ireland is dismantled.

"In light of yesterday's developments, the chief constable and I have decided that a further reduction in security profile is possible," British General Commanding Officer Reddy Watt told reporters.

The start of the military withdrawal makes good on a British pledge as talks continue to create a regional government to replace the moderate coalition that collapsed in 2002.

Britain's minister for Northern Ireland has asked the Independent Monitoring Commission, which monitors paramilitary activity, for a progress report by January 2006.

The IRA has not named a date for the disarmament. The group said Thursday that retired Canadian general John de Chastelain, who has led an IRA disarmament campaign since 1997, would soon decommission some weapons stashes.

A Roman Catholic priest and Protestant minister would also be invited to witness the destruction, the IRA said.

The IRA is believed to hold most of its arms in underground bunkers in the neighbouring Republic of Ireland.

A 1997 ceasefire eased tensions between the Catholic IRA, Protestant militias and British troops, after the conflict killed about 3,600 people over the decades.

The ceasefire was followed by the Good Friday peace deal in 1998, which saw representatives of Northern Ireland's 700,000 Catholics and 870,000 Protestants run the government.