Kabul, June 18: Rival factions exchanged automatic-weapons fire today in western Afghanistan, and one senior officer was killed in a land mine blast, a commander said.
Forces loyal to Herat gov. Ismail Khan battled those of rival warlord Ammanullah Khan for one hour near Zer-e-Koh, a front-line between the two sides that had been quiet for six months Ammanullah Khan said that about 150 of Ismail Khan's fighters had attacked his positions and laid mines on a road in the area. He said one of his commanders was killed and five of his soldiers wounded when the vehicle they were traveling in struck one of the mines. A spokesman for Ismail Khan, Abdul Wahed Tawaqali, denied there had been any fighting and said the area was quiet. He was speaking from nearby Shindand, an air base in the southern part of Herat province. Ismail Khan, an ethnic Tajik, and Ammanullah Khan, an ethnic Pashtun, are longtime rivals. In December, the government broke red a truce to end the last major round of fighting between the two sides, which left an estimated 60 people dead.

Bureau Report