| Submit your comments on this article |
| Afghanistan |
| Afghan festivities kill between 1 and 20 |
| 2004-02-08 |
| Fighting between rival warlords — possibly over drugs — left one person dead in remote northern Afghanistan, a senior official said Saturday, confirming a renewed outbreak of the factional violence dogging efforts to stabilize the country. Clashes erupted Thursday evening near Orgo in Badakhshan province, Deputy Interior Minister Hilalludin Hillal told The Associated Press. Afghan television had reported that as many as 20 people were killed and another 40 wounded; Hillal said only one person was dead and five were injured. He said fighting had stopped, and a team of investigators from Kabul were trying to find out what happened, including whether lucrative drug-trafficking was the cause. The deputy interior minister said protagonists from the recent fighting were Orgo’s mayor, Musadeq, who like many Afghans uses only one name, and a local militia commander called Qari Ziauddin. Their forces have clashed repeatedly in the past. "As you know there is a lot of (opium) poppy cultivation in Badakhshan," Hillal said. "But we should wait for our team to return" before drawing conclusions. |
| Posted by:Dan Darling |
| #1 It's like a three ring circus. "We've got bodies like cord wood!" "One death of cardiac arrest, opium found at site of death." |
| Posted by: Lucky 2004-2-8 1:17:49 AM |