The loyalist Ulster Volunteer Force is understood to have begun destroying its weapons under the decommissioning process in the North. No formal announcement has been made, but the organisation is believed to have put a significant number of guns beyond use. General John de Chastelain, the head of the International Independent Commission on Decommissioning, is believed to have witnessed the act. Loyalists have been coming under pressure to decommission for some time following the IRA's completion of the process four years ago.