09 August 2004	Monday	22 Jamadi-us-Saani 1425

KABUL, Aug 8: At least three people were killed and three injured in factional fighting between two warlords in western Afghanistan, an official said on Sunday.

The gun battle started Saturday night in Chesht district of Herat province some 490 kilometres west of Kabul between the militia forces loyal to provincial governor Ismael Khan and those of Ibrahim Malikzada, the governor of neighbouring Ghor province.

"In the fighting, three of Malikzada's men were killed and three of them injured," said Chesht district police chief Ghulam Hazrat. While southern Afghanistan has been hit by Taliban-led insurgency, the west suffers from tensions between rival commanders.

Disarmament of militias there has proceeded at a snail's pace. Some 60 percent of an estimated 40,000-60,000 militiamen are targeted to have laid down their arms in time for October 9 presidential elections but so far just over 12,000 have been disarmed. -AFP