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| Afghanistan/South Asia |
| Factional Fighting Spreads in Afghanistan |
| 2004-04-12 |
| This involves cannon fodder that could be much more effectively expended potting Pashtuns across the border from Waziristan... Factional violence spread across Afghanistan on Sunday, with gunbattles in the north between militias of two powerful warlords leaving up to three fighters dead, rival groups said Sunday. Forces loyal to Abdul Rashid Dostum and his rival, Atta Mohammed, battled overnight in Kod-e-Barq, an area about 190 miles northwest of the capital, Kabul. About 500 fighters from Mohammed's faction looted houses belonging to Dostum and leaders of his faction, a spokesman for Dostum said. Three of Dostum's men were killed and about 15 were injured, the spokesman, Akbar Boy, said. Mohammed Shafi, a senior commander for Mohammed, confirmed the clash, but said only one of Dostum's men was killed. Two of his own men were injured, he said. Shafi claimed Dostum's militia, armed with rockets, attacked the area in preparation for a move on Mazar-e-Sharif, a major northern city where the two militias jostle for control. Local residents resisted them, he said. "The people rose up. There's at least one Kalashnikov in every house there, and Dostum's people retreated," Shafi said. |
| Posted by:Fred |