10 Die As Warlords Overrun Afghan Town

[Beaverhausen]

10 Die As Warlords Overrun Afghan Town

By AMIR SHAH, Associated Press Writer

KABUL, Afghanistan - Warlords overran a provincial capital in central Afghanistan (news - web sites), officials said Friday, forcing the governor to flee in the latest burst of infighting in this war-fractured nation.

The attack, in which 10 people were reportedly killed, highlights the challenges U.S.-backed President Hamid Karzai faces in trying to extend his writ to the countryside. It also was further evidence of slipping security ahead of key elections scheduled for September.

Fighters armed with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades seized Chagcharan, the main town in remote Ghor province 350 miles west of Kabul, on Thursday, a leader of the offensive and a government official said.

Gov. Mohammed Ibrahim fled to the western city of Herat, leaving his deputy and a group of nominally loyal militiamen and police to regroup in a nearby village.

Din Mohammed Azimi, the governor's deputy, said at least 10 of his men were killed and that the remainder were preparing a counterattack.

But Ghulam Yahya, a former Ghor police chief who claimed Friday he was back in his old job, said he knew of only one fatality.

The fighting followed weeks of tension between allies of provincial military commander Ahmad Murghabi, who also was driven out, and rival tribes over positions in the local administration.


http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=516&ncid=1898&e=2&u=/ap/20040618/ap_on_re_as/afghan_factional_fighting_4

edit- someone didn't like my great headline...

[molly]

1. Why aren't we surprised?

[livinginphotographs]

2. Oh, but haven't we freed Afghanistan yet?

n/t

[Spazito]

3. You need to put the actual title of the article when you post in

Late Breaking News or it will get locked and this is a good article and I wouldn't want to see it locked. Just hit your edit button, copy and the actual title from the article and paste it into the title of your thread.

Re the article: Afghanistan, the war that bush says is won, is 70% in the hands of warlords and the Taliban, some win, eh.

[progressivebydesign]

4. But.. but.. Didn't Bush have a "Mission Accomplished" photo op last week?

I swear I saw that lying fool at a press conference with Karzai (?), thanking him for freeing Afghanistan from the evil people!! Mission Accomplished, my ass!

[Rick Myers]

5. Just saw in the local paper...

Afgan warlords unseat US appointed governor. Up next on the Parade of Democracy, Iraq...

Maybe Iraq will change it's name to "Chaos."

[underpants]

6. More SUCCESS!!!!!!!

:thumbsup:

[htuttle]

7. I'm not positive, but I'm pretty sure these unnamed 'warlords' are Taliban

The name given in the article, 'Rais Salam', only comes up in this article from 2002:
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,190847,00.html

...The convoy was on its way to the nearby town of Baghran to meet an aged, white-bearded tribal leader named Rais, better known as "the Baghran"—the most powerful warlord in the area and a possible link to Omar.

Since last month, the U.S. has been impatiently following the glacial negotiations meant to secure the surrender of Taliban fighters around Baghran. Rais, who fought hard for the Taliban, said last week he was willing to surrender to the new U.S.-backed Afghan government. What got the U.S. especially interested were intelligence reports that it was Rais who had chaperoned Omar on his escape from Kandahar. Rais denies those reports.
...

If they are not Taliban 'proper', they are certainly affiliated with Ishmael Khan, an Iranian-backed independent warlord who's allied with the Taliban.