Kabul, June 12: Rival factions traded heavy machine gun-and rocket-propelled grenade-fire in northern Afghanistan in a battle that left 11 combatants dead, a spokesman for one of the sides said today. Forces loyal to longtime rivals Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum and Gen. Atta Mohammed fought for two hours yesterday in Shulgara, just south of the northern capital of Mazar-e-Sharif, said Ashraf Nadim, a spokesman for Mohammed.
He said 11 were killed but specific casualty figures for each side were not available. "We've sent a delegation from Mazar-e-Sharif to look into it," Nadim said, referring to a regional security commission comprised of senior representatives from both sides.
The commission, based in Mazar-e-Sharif, was set up a year ago to resolve violence that flares frequently the two sides all across northern Afghanistan. It has had little success, however. Most of Afghanistan is controlled by warlords who command their own private militias. President Hamid Karzai's government, whose influence is largely confined to the capital, has so far been hard pressed to stop such violence. Bureau Report