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Fresh Fighting In North And
East Of Afghanistan
By Stuart Grudgings
2-17-02
| MAZAR-I-SHARIF,
Afghanistan (Reuters) - Fresh fighting has erupted in northern Afghanistan
between rival ethnic factions in the interim government while tribal forces
clashed in the east, aid officials and reports said on Sunday. The fighting casts fresh doubt on the ability of the new government to hold together its loose coalition of old enemies and ensure security in the war-shattered country. A regional commander of one of the northern factions told Reuters the fighting had finished, but another source said a force from one of the groups was preparing for another attack in the town of Khulm, about 50 km (32 miles) east of the main northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif. One official, citing an aid worker in the town, said a warehouse belonging to Irish group GOAL, was hit on Saturday night during the clash. He said about 30 people in the latest flare-up of violence between a mainly ethnic Uzbek force led by warlord and deputy defense minister Abdul Rashid Dostum, and a mainly ethnic Tajik faction loyal to Defense Minister Mohammad Fahim. Some 40 members of the factions were killed in fighting in recent weeks, raising fears of full-scale conflict between groups backing two of the interim government's top defense officials. In eastern Afghanistan, U.S. aircraft launched a bombing raid apparently in support of government forces trying to break up a clash between tribal factions, a Pakistan-based news agency said on Sunday. The private Afghan Islamic Press said a U.S. plane bombed the Farm Bagh area, some 19 miles east of Khost town, on Saturday evening after security forces loyal to the interim government tried to stop a tribal battle. There were no reports of casualties in the U.S. bombing but at least two people were killed and five wounded, including members of the security forces, in the clash between fighters from the ethnic Pashtun Kochi and Gurbez tribes. The reason for the fighting was not immediately clear but there have recently been clashes in the area between rival commanders vying for power in the post-Taliban era. AID GROUPS FLEE The regional leader of the northern Tajik faction, Atta Mohammad, told Reuters the dispute in the north began when nine officers loyal to one of Dostum's commanders, Ustad Kabir, defected to the Tajik force. Kabir then attacked the rival force when their commander refused to send back the nine defecting officers. "There was some tension in the city. A person committed a crime, and now the problem is solved," he said. "They attacked our forces and also stole some sheep from people in the city." Atta said Kabir had escaped but some of his fighters had been captured and the area was now calm. However, another source said forces loyal to Dostum were preparing for military action and several aid groups had withdrawn to the more secure city of Mazar-i-Sharif. "There was fairly sustained fighting in the town center from around noon on Saturday to 1 a.m. this morning," the source said. The aid agency warehouse was close to the most intense fighting and most of the wounded people were from that area, the source said. The aid official said Kabir had been driven out of the town but it was extremely tense. The fighting in the town follows a spate of attacks on aid agency officials in Mazar-i-Sharif. An Afghan worker for the U.N. children's agency UNICEF was shot and wounded on Saturday when gunmen tried to kidnap him, while an Afghan aid worker with the British-based group FOCUS was missing, suspected kidnapped last week, aid sources said. Aid officials say security in the area is deteriorating despite efforts to rid city centers of armed men. Some officials said that the approach of the Muslim Eid festival next week could be behind the attacks because people wanted money for celebrations. The United Nations held talks with northern security chiefs on Sunday and a U.N. official said steps to tighten security for aid workers had been agreed. Copyright © 2002 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters shall not be liable for any errors or delays in the content, or for any actions taken in reliance thereon. |
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