Afghan warlords battle for town, threatening the peace process

Associated Press

GARDEZ, Afghanistan – Terrified families huddled in basements or fled on foot Thursday as rival Afghan warlords waged artillery battles for control of this strategic town, killing at least 43 people and injuring dozens of others.

The fierce fighting gave new urgency to Afghan leader Hamid Karzai’s appeal for an expanded international security force to be deployed outside the capital, Kabul, to stave off such factional battles.

Laying siege to Gardez, the capital of strategic Paktia province, was Bacha Khan, a local warlord aligned with Karzai’s interim administration, which named him governor of the province. Local tribal elders refused to accept Khan’s appointment, so Khan moved to take the city by force.

The fighting could complicate American efforts – including clandestine operations led by small bands of U.S. special forces – to root out fugitive Taliban and al-Qaida fighters in Paktia province. Paktia, which borders Pakistan, includes numerous smuggling routes that Taliban and al-Qaida fugitives could use to escape Afghanistan.

Loud explosions, the dull thud of mortars and the rattle of heavy machine-gun fire echoed through the deserted streets of Gardez Thursday as Khan’s troops, dug in atop a pair of hilltops south of the city, took aim at fighters loyal to the town’s tribal council, or shura, holed up in a fortress in the town center.

Karzai, who stopped in Britain en route home from a high-profile visit to the United States, met with Prime Minister Tony Blair and said there was overwhelming support among the Afghan people for a widening of the peacekeeping mission.

“It’s a demand of the Afghan people as a measure of commitment by the international community, as a symbol of their commitment to Afghanistan to stay on,” he said.

High-flying American warplanes circled overhead during Thursday’s fighting, but did not intervene, and a contingent of what local leaders said were U.S. special forces stayed out of sight at their base south of town.

Khan has been aiding U.S. special forces, and Karzai’s government – which took power in December after the fall of the Taliban – confirmed his appointment as governor, but only after Khan had laid claim to the post.

Both sides claimed to have taken dozens of prisoners. Khan’s fighters acknowledged 10 dead and the shura forces 15; authorities said 18 civilians died in the two days of fighting. Dozens of others were injured.

There were scenes of suffering at Gardez’s rudimentary hospital, where mortar rounds fell close enough to shake the walls. Patients swathed in bloody bandages wailed in pain as doctors shook their heads and said they were out of painkillers and other basic supplies.

A corridor with puddles of blood on the floor served as a makeshift morgue. Eight bodies could be seen, covered in blankets.