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| Afghanistan |
| Afghan militants battle Taliban, defect to gov't |
| 2010-03-08 |
| 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 |
| #7 some years ago there was a split in the Hezb-e-Islami and after the split there was a larger group ( which I think was loyal to and subsidized by Gulbuddin) and a smaller group (less loyal and less subsidized). |
| Posted by: lord garth 2010-03-08 14:09 |
| #6 i wouldn't consider this defecting too the govt. either since they are vying for control of towns where there is very little govt. presence sounds more like a drug war |
| Posted by: chris 2010-03-08 11:11 |
| #5 Gun battles between the Taliban and other Islamist faction left at least 50 dead fighters. Militants in North Afghanistan fought over control of the province with staggering government system. this is Afghanistan politics. |
| Posted by: politics 2010-03-08 04:28 |
| #4 Hezeb-Islami are not Taliban. They were the first islamist movement funded by the Pakistanis. However they were defeated by Ahmad Shah Massud (leader from the Northern Alliance murdered two days before 9/11). At this point Pakuistan switched support to Mullah Omar's Taliban. On the religious and anti-american side Hezb-e-Islami are about as bad as teh Taliban. They are also about as Pashtun-supremacist. Perhaps, but I don't them as well so take it with a grain of salt they are more nationalistic and less prone to take orders from Arabs. So it is nice for having some pop-corn but I wonder at the price the Afghan governemnt has paid for teh Herzb. |
| Posted by: JFM 2010-03-08 01:59 |
| #3 Duplicate info already posted by Fred. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-03-08 00:41 |
| #2 Why, ed? |
| Posted by: trailing wife 2010-03-08 00:32 |
| #1 Please delete. |
| Posted by: ed 2010-03-08 00:23 |