Sporadic fighting undermines security

Exactly a year after the launch of the US-led military campaign to overthrow the Taliban, parts of Afghanistan remain fragmented and dangerous, with periodic fighting breaking out among competing warlords across the country. International media reported this weekend that fighting had erupted in Zar-e Kuh District, close to the strategic Shindand air base in the western Afghan province of Farah, between forces loyal to Herat’s governor Ismail Khan and the independent ethnic Pashtun commander, Amanullah Khan. The fighting left at least six people dead, including three children, and injured more than 20 others. The fighting reportedly began after the Pashtun commander’s forces refused to hand over to Ismail Khan an Iranian citizen they had arrested in the area. The fighting was the first in Herat after the clashes that left some 70 people dead in Goryan about 60 km west of the city in August. The clashes follow Friday's attack on a US Special Forces helicopter northwest of the southern city of Kandahar. The attack caused slight damage to the helicopter and injured a crewman, who has been listed as stable at the US military hospital at Kandahar airport. About 40 US soldiers have been killed and over 300 wounded since the US military operations began late last year. Such incidents are disturbing, and security experts believe that the warlords and their often-hostile militias remain a major hurdle in stabilising Afghanistan - despite having forced Al-Qaeda out of the country and dispersing their Taliban hosts. Sporadic clashes between various warring factions also block much-needed recovery and reconstruction work in the war-ravaged country. Last week, clashes were also reported in the Pir Naqsi area of northern Samangan Province between forces loyal to commanders Abdul Rashid Dostum and Ustadh Ata Mohammad. Former allies against the Taliban, they are now squabbling over control of the volatile north. At least three people died and several were injured in the fighting there. Fighting was also reported last week in the Angour Bagh area of the eastern Afghan city of Jalalabad between the forces of commanders Hazrat Ali and Zahir Shah. The overnight violence reportedly killed one man and injured another two. Meanwhile, the southeastern Afghan town of Khowst was reported to be calm after rebel warlord Badshah Khan Zadran was forced out last month. Zadran’s standoff with the Kabul-appointed governor Hakim Taniwal had been going on for most of this year and resulted in at least ten deaths.