Eleven men were killed in hours of factional clashes involving about 40 fighters allied to rival commanders in central Afghanistan, commanders said Friday. The head of one faction said his men were attacked by their rivals in a village in remote Ghor province Friday, sparking the fighting.
"The other guys attacked us and they killed five of my men," Mullah Borhan told AFP. "We lost six of our people," said Mullah Qadir, a commander in a rival faction. It was not clear what was behind the clash in the province, one of the most underdeveloped and destitute parts of Afghanistan, where factions are said to be involved in the illegal drugs trade.
Police said they knew of only two dead in the fighting in the Shahrak district. A police team has been sent to the area and the situation was under control, Ghor police chief General Shah Jahan told AFP.
Jahan said the factions had handed in their weapons during a UN-backed disarmament programmed aimed at disbanding the scores of armed groups that flourished in Afghanistan's chaotic 25 years of war.