|
Afghan militants battle Taliban, defect to gov't
More on yesterday's Hezb-e-Islami - taliban (what faction?) festivities.[AP] Fighters for the Hezb-e-Islami militia, loyal to regional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, battled the Taliban with rocket-propelled grenades and heavy machine guns in Baghlan province, provincial Gov. Mohammad Akbar Barakzai said. At least 50 militants and an unknown number of civilians have died in the fighting that started Saturday morning and was continuing through Sunday night. Officials said the battles were apparently over control of several villages where the government has almost no presence. Provincial police Chief Kabir Andarabi said more than 100 Hezb-e-Islami fighters, under pressure from the combat, pledged Sunday to join the government forces that have massed on the edge of the battle zone. The regional police commander, Gen. Ghulam Mushtaba Patang, put the number of defecting fighters at 50 but said the situation was in flux. "It is correct that Hezb-e-Islami has come under pressure from the Taliban and some of them have already joined with the government," Patang said. He said police amassed in the area had set up mobile hospitals and were offering medical care to any fighters willing to defect. Provincial deputy police chief Zalmai Mangal said reports from the area indicate that at least 50 militant fighters were dead, 35 from Hezb-e-Islami and 15 from the Taliban. It was unclear how many total militants were involved, he said by telephone from a district near the fighting where government forces have rushed to observe and try to help any wounded civilians. Posted by: ed 2010-03-08 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=292174 |