July 4, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 3,1424

HERAT, July 3: An Afghan military official has been shot dead by two unknown gunmen in the centre of the main western city of Herat, officials said on Thursday.

Provincial Security Commander Ziadin Mahmoodi said the officer from a local army assault brigade had been shot on Wednesday afternoon in Herat’s “cinema avenue” in the city centre.

Mahmoodi said the man, who radio reports identified as Commander Basir, was likely the victim of a personal vendetta.

“He had injured someone who is Pashtun and I can say with 80-90 percent certainty they have taken their revenge. It isn’t a political or military murder,” he said.

The two killers escaped after the shooting and police were searching for them.

Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali said earlier that security was relatively good in Herat, which is ruled by ethnic Tajik governor Ismail Khan, a famed anti-Soviet and anti-Taliban fighter who maintains a large private army.

“In Herat security is better than many parts of the country, in the city, and reconstruction is going on at a significant pace,” Jalali said after his return from visiting western Afghanistan last week.

However, he said there were problems in Shindand, southern Herat province, where Khan’s forces have recently clashed with those of Pakhtoon warlord Amanullah Khan, the latest in a series.

“In Shindand area the insecurity caused by the dispute between Herat and Amanullah Khan, who is claiming that Pakhtoons were not given their fair share in the government, continues to keep that area in tension.

“One negative impact of these rivalries is that criminals and freelancers take advantage of the situation and commit crimes against the population in the area.”

Defence Minister Mohammad Qasim Fahim held meetings in Herat on Thursday in a bid to solve the dispute between the two warlords. —AFP