ISLAMABAD, Sept 24: Clashes erupted between two tribes in eastern Afghanistan on Monday night over a land dispute even as two other rival tribes agreed a truce after weeks of bloody clashes in the same region.
One man was killed and five people, including three women, were injured in the fighting in Ismail Khil area west of the city of Khost, the Afghan Islamic Press quoted a spokesman for the provincial governor as saying.
“The government has sent a team to negotiate a ceasefire but there were no positive results so far,” Mohammad Khan Gurbuz said. “The fighting is continuing. We are trying for a ceasefire.”
The AIP said the new fighting came just as the Balkhel and Sabari tribes, members of the Pakhtoon group, agreed on a ceasefire to end three weeks of clashes to the west of Khost that killed more than 20 people.
Khost was also the scene of fighting earlier this month between Taniwal’s forces and renegade warlord Padshah Khan Zadran.
US troops have been active in the province seeking remnants of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
Armed clashes in various provinces of Afghanistan in recent months have underscored the fragility of the administration of President Hamid Karzai, a Pakhtoon, which replaced the Taliban after its overthrow with US assistance late last year.—Reuters
