Kabul, May 03: US-led coalition forces and Afghan officials have agreed to establish a joint military force to fight alleged terrorist groups in south and south-eastern Afghanistan, an Afghan Defence Ministry spokesman said in Kabul. ''The United States will fund the newly-established force through the Afghan Ministry of Defence,'' spokesman Zahir Azimy told media.

Based in Kabul, the force would be ready to be mobilized where needed and initially consist of some 2,000 men from different ethnic groups, including former Mujahedin fighters and ex-soldiers, added Azimy. Also in Kabul yesterday, a group of 12 men linked to former Mujahedin leader and one-time Afghan Prime Minister Gulbuddin Hekmatyar declared their loyalty to the Afghan government.

One of the men, Khalid Farooqi, told reporters they had joined the government in order to take part in the peace and reconstruction process.

The group claimed to be senior members of the Hezb-e-Islami Group, led by fugitive warlord Hekmatyar, who has declared a ''jihad'', or holy war, against foreign troops in Afghanistan and against supporters of US-backed Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

Asked if they would accept a government order to fight against Hekmatyar, Farooqi said: ''We are not willing to fight anyone. We just want to take part in the peace process.'' Bureau Report