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| Afghanistan |
| 12 killed in shootout at Shindand... |
| 2002-07-24 |
| At least 12 people have been killed in clashes between rival Afghan factions fighting for control of the Shindand district in the western province of Herat, an Afghan official said on Tuesday. Haji Hazrat, a local commander in Herat, told Reuters by telephone that the fighting between ethnic Pashtun and Tajik gunmen started on Monday following instructions from the Tajik governor of Herat, Ismail Khan. "The fight is still continuing...we have confirmed information that at least seven Tajik and five Pashtun fighters were killed, while dozens were wounded in the gun battle between the two factions," he added. When I see a story like this, involving a clash between Pashtuns and somebody else — it doesn't really matter who the "somebody else" might be — my first inclination is to suspect the Pashtuns started the fight, if only because they can't seem to get along with anyone, to include each other... But the Pakistan-based Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) reported separately that a cease-fire between the two sides had been brokered late on Monday. According to Hazrat, Saleh Gul, a local commander in the southern city of Kandahar, had sent reinforcements to the Pashtun fighters overnight. And that confirms my initial suspicion. Ismail Khan controls Herat pretty much as a fiefdom, maintaining a distance from the central government while giving lip service support, and probably such actual support as serves his interests. Herat remains the best pacified and most prosperous area in the country because Ismail Khan rules it as an enlightened despot. Next to Gul Agha, the governor of Kandahar, he looks positively saintly; Gul Agha was the "corrupt governor" who gave the Talibs their start when they ran him out of Kandahar. He's been casting covetous eyes on Herat since the Talibs were kicked out. |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |