Community caught in crossfire in need of assistance

Hundreds of people, including women and children, were braving freezing winter weather in the isolated Khartzan valley of the northwestern Faryab province after their houses had been looted by local armed groups, Faryab governor Amer Latif told IRIN from the provincial capital, Maimana, on Wednesday. Latif said the incident happened several weeks ago, but that news of their plight had only just filtered out of the isolated valley due to heavy snow. “We have a very serious problem - there is a dire need for emergency assistance. It is too cold and people need some security measures but we cannot do anything as the road is blocked and we were not provided with helicopters,” Latif said. Reports from Faryab said at least ten civilians have been injured after frequent skirmishes took place between two rival commanders. “They were rival drug lords and the fighting was on issues of opium trafficking. The dispute turned violent when they ambushed each other's convoys of drugs,” the governor noted. Meanwhile, the Afghan NGO Security Office (ANSO) told IRIN that they had advised aid agencies to temporarily suspend travel to Faryab province following the incident. According to ANSO, during the localised fighting amongst armed groups in that area, the entire village of Khartazan had been looted. ANSO said 25 families were displaced, three villagers had been taken hostage and two more wounded in the crossfire. This is not the first incident in troubled Faryab province. Warlords and their armies in the province continue to harass people and defy local authorities by grabbing land from farmers and locking up those who oppose them in private prisons, human rights activists in Maimana told IRIN.