MAZAR-I-SHARIF, April 15: A military commander and two bodyguards from Deputy Defence Minister Abdul Rashid Dostum’s militia force were killed on Tuesday in an ambush in northern Afghanistan, police and local commanders said.

Commander Ishan Shancy of the Junbish-i Milly-i-Islami and his bodyguards were ambushed by unidentified gunmen when their car was passing Charbolak, 40kms west of Mazar-i-Sharif, a spokesman said.

“While our commander was passing through Charbolak some unknown soldiers attacked and killed him and his bodyguards.”

A local police official confirmed three people had been killed.

General Sabor of rival Tajik warlord Atta Mohammad’s Jamiat-i-Islami denied any part in the attack.

“We didn’t attack the commander. Why should we attack Junbish? We live in Charbolak together like brothers,” he said.

Clashes last week between the two rival militias in Maimana, provincial capital of northwestern Faryab province, left 17 people dead, including a Jamiat commander, and 13 wounded.

The two sides had started withdrawing forces from Maimana under a UN-brokered agreement, a United Nations spokesman said on Sunday.—AFP