U.S. Drops Bomb as Two Afghan Factions Clash

A U.S. jet dropped a bomb as a show of force Thursday after Afghan troops swooped into an area of eastern Afghanistan in a raid that left a warlord’s brother dead, U.S. and Afghan officials said.

Haji Zaher, a military commander in Nangarhar province and son of the country’s recently assassinated vice president, said “renegade Taliban members” planned to attack two villages in southern Nangarhar but Afghan troops intervened.

A U.S. military spokeswoman, Capt. Christa D’Andrea, said U.S. Special Forces troops south of Jalalabad observed the firefight between two Afghan groups but did not get involved.

As “a show of force,” however, an A-10 bomber dropped a 500-pound bomb in an uninhabited area near the fighting.

One Afghan died and six were wounded in the clash but none of the casualties came as a result of the U.S. bomb, she said.

Zaher blamed Maulvi Noor Mohammed, a local warlord, for starting the clash, and said that “in this battle, his brother was killed.”

Zaher is a son of former Afghan Vice President Haji Abdul Qadir, who was gunned down July 6 near his office.

The main Afghan army commander in Nangarhar, Hazrat Ali, confirmed the raid and said that there was “Al Qaeda activity” in the area.

However, independent sources contacted in Jalalabad said the incident had nothing to do with the terrorist group but followed an attempt by Ali to disarm residents in the area. They resisted, and a gun battle broke out.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has appointed no successor to Qadir as governor of the strategic province, and a number of Afghans had expressed fears of factional fighting as armed groups jockey for position now that the longtime leader of Nangarhar is dead.

Also on Thursday, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan advocated expanding the international security force now confined to Kabul.

He said Wednesday that “a limited expansion” of the 4,500-strong force to areas outside the Afghan capital “would make a huge contribution to the consolidation of peace, and should be considered.”

Karzai urged the U.N. Security Council to expand the force throughout the country in February. Annan backed Karzai, but the 15-member council has repeatedly refused.