Factional Afghan Fighting Kills 10
Rival factions fought with rockets and small-arms fire in the capital of the southwestern Afghan province of Nimruz, killing at least 10 people, an Afghan official said Saturday.
The fighting between the two factions started Friday night in the provincial capital, Zaranj, near the Iranian border, and continued Saturday, a senior police official said.
The fighting raged the night after a force led by provincial security chief Mohammed Yaqub Barakzai was attacked by a force loyal to commander Abdul Quddus, Kandahar Police Chief Mohammed Anwar said from the Pakistani border town of Chaman by telephone.
Eight people were killed inside a house hit by a rocket, while two soldiers died and 20 were wounded in gun battles between the two factions, he said.
A resident of Nimruz said the forces of Barakzai, a close relative of Kandahar Gov. Gul Agha Shirzai, were being surrounded by those of Quddus.
Shirzai, an ally of Afghan interim Prime Minister Hamid Karzai, has sent reinforcements for Barakzai, Afghan sources in the area said.
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