Fighting between militias in western Afghanistan continued yesterday with exchanges of artillery fire, a rebel commander said, as the government prepared to send a delegation to investigate.
The clashes in Herat province, where up to 21 people were reported killed on Saturday, highlight Afghanistan's enduring insecurity as it prepares for milestone elections.
President Hamid Karzai and the US military expressed concern about the violence, but sent no forces to stop it.
Rival Warlords
The battles pitch Herat Governor Ismail Khan, one of the country's most powerful warlords, against an array of rival commanders chafing at his dominance of the prosperous region.
Amanullah, an ethnic Pashtun leader from the south of the province, said Sunday he was trading artillery fire with Khan's men near Shindand, about 600km west of the capital, Kabul.
He said Khan's forces had moved tanks and rocket-launchers to the front line in an attempt to retake a nearby air base, but said there was no close-range fighting or fresh casualties.
Khan, a Tajik, was discriminating against other ethnic groups in the province, he said. "So long as Ismail Khan is governor, the fighting will continue."
Abdul Wahed Tawakali, a spokesman for Khan, said there was still fighting near Shindand but had no details.
Residents of Herat city were planning demonstrations "against those troublemakers," Tawakali said, and a delegation from Kabul was also expected to have arrived later yesterday.
Attacks by two other dissident commanders in the north and west of the province were repelled, with the rebels pushed into neighboring Ghor province, he said.
The battles are the latest in a string of factional clashes across the north and west of the country, and present a fresh security headache for US-backed President Hamid Karzai and the US military ahead of Oct. 9 presidential elections.
Condemnation
On Saturday, Karzai condemned the violence as "an attack on the state" and vowed "serious measures" against the rebel commanders.
Still, the Defense Ministry said militia units in Herat -- on Kabul's payroll but with close links to Khan -- would be left to tackle the situation. Karzai said a government delegation would be sent to investigate.
The UN is concerned that the failure to disarm militias who control much of the country leaves the election vulnerable to intimidation.
About 9.5 million of the estimated 9.8 million eligible Afghans have registered to vote, according to UN figures, despite a string of attacks on voters and election workers blamed on Taliban rebels.
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