MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan, 12 April 2004 — Up to five soldiers were injured and two killed when troops of powerful warlord blamed for a resurgence in provincial unrest clashed with rivals in northern Afghanistan, military commanders said yesterday.
The skirmishes, involving forces of ethnic Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum, took place late Saturday in Kod-e-Barq, 20 kilometers south of the main northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif.
Accounts of the fighting varied, with Dostum’s deputy Majit Roozi claiming two dead and five injured while blaming the clashes on troops loyal to the Uzbek warlord’s regional rival, ethnic Tajik Atta Mohammed.
The latest fighting follows a 500-strong Afghan National Army deployment to nearby northern Faryab province to restore law and order after Dostum’s men reportedly overran the city of Meymanah earlier this week.
That incident raised fresh headaches for the government of President Hamid Karzai, struggling to rein in regional militias while attempting to tackle Taleban and Al-Qaeda fighters with the aid of US-led forces.
Mohammed’s spokesman put the casualties in Saturday’s clashes at just four injured, blaming Dostum’s forces for launching the offensive. “Last night Dostum’s troops attacked Kod-e-Barq trying to capture the area,” said Mohammad Shafi, one of Mohammad’s military commanders.
“Our troops resisted and pushed back Dostum’s troops,” he said, adding that the fighting lasted several hours and involved heavy weaponry on both sides.
Soldiers loyal to Mohammad and Dostum, who have been engaged in a sporadic power struggle in the north since the 2001 ouster of the Taleban regime, have clashed at regular intervals, despite ongoing attempts to disarm militiamen. Schools, shops and other public institutions in Kod-e-Barq, previously controlled by troops of both men, were closed yesterday as a result of the fighting.
UN spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva confirmed there had been fighting on the outskirts of Mazar-e-Sharif but said it was not thought to be serious.
Meanwhile, northwestern Faryab province remained calm yesterday, despite the recent violence that forced the provincial governor and other officials to flee with the assistance of British soldiers.
“The national army soldiers have had control of the city since Thursday as Dostum’s troops withdrew,” Gen. Zahir Azimi said.
The deputy governor has been appointed as acting governor while the military commander and police chief have been temporarily replaced by their deputies, Azimi said.
The UN spokesman said that four people had been injured in demonstrations in Meymanah Saturday “during a brief rock-throwing melee involving pro and anti-Dostum demonstrators.”
