The Ulster Defence Association has been urged to dispose of more of its weapons after it dumped a stockpile of explosives to be destroyed by the security forces last night.
As police prepared to put on show nearly 20 pipe bombs and component parts handed over by the group in west Belfast, nationalists called for a further scaling down of the UDA arsenal.
SDLP Assembly member Mr Alban Maginness said: "Having started this they should finish the job off by handing in all their weapons and explosives so that the whole community will be safe."
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The paramilitary organisation claimed it left the devices at a drop-off point in the Shankill area as part of a major drive to restore order following a violent feud with Johnny "Mad Dog" Adair and his supporters.
In a statement it said: "The West Belfast Brigade of the Ulster Defence Association left pipe bombs at Ewarts Playing Fields to be disposed of by the security services.
"We took this action to eradicate pipe bombs from our community as part of the ongoing steps to stabilise and normalise loyalist west Belfast."
The devices and component parts - similar to those used in hundreds of attacks on Catholic homes across Northern Ireland - were put in bags and transported to the drop-off point.
Police chiefs and British government officials at the Northern Ireland Office were alerted to the plan before the operation was launched.
Loyalist sources have insisted this was not an act of decommissioning, claiming that General John de Chastelain's international disarmament group was not involved to oversee the move.
The paramilitaries said they wanted to demonstrate how the new regime will operate after Adair's family and "C" Company associates were forced to flee to Scotland earlier this month as a bloody shooting war which claimed four lives was brought to an end.
"These weapons have been synonymous with attacks on Protestants during feuds and disputes and we have already stated we must not go down that road again," the statement added.
"We are also asking anyone still holding these weapons to contact their local commanders who will initiate steps for them to be disposed of."
Northern Ireland Office Security minister Ms Jane Kennedy welcomed the move, which she claimed had prevented murders.
"People have been killed and maimed by pipe bombs and this police operation has undoubtedly saved lives," she said.
Mr Chris McGimpsey, an Ulster Unionist Party councillor in the Shankill area, described the move as a significant act of decommissioning.
He said: "We have a paramilitary organisation which has been involved in some fairly horrific crimes over the last number of years, often using pipe-bombs.
"They have now said they are going to clean up their act and they have handed a lot of pipe bombs in.
"We simply should be pleased about that and let's try and see if other paramilitary groups can be encouraged to decommission some of their weapons and, indeed, if the UDA can be encouraged to do some further acts of decommissioning."
PA