[Mb-civic] NYTimes.com Article: 21 Killed in Afghanistan Attacks Directed at Provincial Governor

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21 Killed in Afghanistan Attacks Directed at Provincial Governor

August 15, 2004
 By CARLOTTA GALL 



 

KABUL, Afghanistan, Aug. 14 - Twenty-one people, including
two senior Defense Ministry commanders, were killed in
heavy factional fighting overnight in the western province
of Herat, in another upset for Afghanistan as it prepares
for elections, Afghan officials said Saturday. 

In what appeared to be coordinated attacks, forces from
three neighboring provinces moved on districts in Herat
Province, the fief of the powerful warlord Ismail Khan. 

Fighting involving artillery and tanks was continuing on
Saturday afternoon south of the city of Herat, around
Shindand, said Mohammadullah Afzali, the Foreign Ministry
representative in Herat. 

Both sides confirmed that 21 people had been killed. 

The
attacks drew a swift rebuke from President Hamid Karzai,
who, after a meeting of his national security council,
issued a statement condemning the incursions and calling
for those responsible to withdraw from the areas they had
seized. The attacks were illegal and a threat to public
security, it said. 

"Any action that jeopardizes public security and threatens
people's lives will not be tolerated and no one will be
allowed to get away with committing such crimes," the
statement said. 

The council clearly took the side of Herat's governor,
saying his forces had the right to defend the integrity of
the province, said the Defense Ministry spokesman, Gen.
Abdul Zaher Azimi. 

Mr. Khan has been much criticized in the past by the
central government for not respecting central authority, in
particular in March, when fighting broke out in the city of
Herat after Mr. Khan's son, Mirwais Saddiq, the minister
for civil aviation, was killed. 

The men who have moved against Mr. Khan are known opponents
of the governor who have criticized him in the past for
interfering in their areas of control. 

South of Herat city, the commander Amanullah Khan seized
control of the air base at Shindand and the nearby district
center overnight, and his forces were still in control of
them on Saturday. 

In interviews with local journalists, the commander said
there had been a local uprising against Ismail Khan by
people opposed to his rule. 

In the east, forces under a commander called Abdul Salam
overran two villages in the Chesht District, Mr. Afzali
said. They retained control of one village but had failed
to take the district center, he said. 

To the northeast, the commander Zaher Naibzada, whose men
killed Mr. Khan's son in March, also recently moved against
Mr. Khan's forces, according to local reports. 

Mr. Khan sent reinforcements from the garrison in Herat
city to Shindand, after two of his senior commanders were
killed, along with eight others, and four were wounded. 

A battalion of the newly trained Afghan National Army is
based in Herat and was on alert but for now remained in
their barracks, General Azimi said. 

http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/15/international/middleeast/15HERA.html?ex=1093599814&ei=1&en=61eadb267003f8e4


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