October 10, 2003	Friday	Sha’aban 13, 1424

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MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Oct 9: Rival warlords on Thursday agreed to a ceasefire after two days of heavy fighting between their militias in northern Afghanistan left nearly 80 fighters dead or wounded.

Tajik General Atta Mohammad and his rival Uzbek General Abdul Rashid Dostum agreed to the ceasefire after a meeting with Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and the British ambassador Ron Nash, Mohammad told reporters.

“In this meeting we agreed to a ceasefire with immediate effect which will apply to all of the north,” he said.

Hundreds of militiamen from Mohammad’s Jamiat and Dostum’s Junbish factions would withdraw from the frontlines west of Mazar-i-Sharif.

Jalali gave the troops one day to withdraw.

“In one day all soldiers must withdraw from the frontlines and maintain a distance of 40-50 kilometres between them,” he said.—AFP