Afghan Soldiers Sent in After Slaying

Six hundred Afghan soldiers were deployed to the western province of Herat on Monday to prevent a civil war following the slaying of the civil aviation minister.

Two battalions were transported on American military aircraft to restore order to the city of Herat after the minister, Mirwais Sadiq, the son of powerful provincial Gov. Ismail Khan, was reportedly killed by a local military commander on Sunday.

The slaying, which followed an attempt on Khan’s life, ignited heavy fighting with tanks, rocket-propelled grenades and mortars on the streets of Herat. Soldiers loyal to Khan and Gen. Zahir Nayebzada, commander of the 17th Division, fought for about eight hours before a cease-fire.

Dozens of people were reported dead or injured in the normally stable city. Some reports said as many as 100 people had been killed but the figure could not be confirmed.

Sadiq is the third minister to be killed in just over two years.

“The soldiers are there because the important thing is to provide security and protect civilians,” said Hamid Elmi, a spokesman for Afghan President Hamid Karzai. “We don’t know yet what will happen to Zahir Nayebzada.”

He said the decision on how to deal with Nayebzada would rest with Defense Minister Mohammed Qassim Fahim and Interior Minister Ali Jalali.

Khan’s forces regained control of the city by Monday morning while Nayebzada fled to the mountains. A four-member delegation headed by the powerful defense minister was in Herat yesterday to investigate the killing.

On Sunday, gunmen in a convoyfired AK-47 assault rifles at Khan’s car. Hours later, Sadiq tried to confront Nayebzada and he was shot, said a senior official in the ministry of defense.

“It appears the two have been at each other’s throats for some time. Sadiq was part of a gang who attempted to break into the house of the commander. He and some of his personnel were killed. In response to that, Ismail Khan’s men moved in on the 17th Division,” the official said.

To emphasize his power, Khan on Monday rode through the streets of Herat with hundreds of supporters shouting: “Long live Ismail Khan, death to unbelievers!”

Khan appeared reluctant to receive the soldiers from the national army, who were carrying AK-47s, machine guns and rocket launchers.

“We don’t see a need for troops to come here. The situation is calm,” a spokesman for Khan said.

The crisis underscores the fragility of Karzai’s government. Nayebzada was a central government appointee and part of a larger plan to wrest power away from Khan, who commands 15,000 men in his private army and refuses to cooperate with Karzai. The Afghan national army has 9,000 men.

Six months ago, Karzai stripped Khan of his powers as military commander of Herat but left him governor. The new military commander is considered powerless. The ministry of defense official said Herat could easily descend into factional fighting because Nayebzada appeared to be staging a comeback with his own men.

“It could very well result in fighting again,” he said. “There are three different elements moving toward Herat. They are opposing forces loyal to Ismail Khan, the remnants of the 17th Division and Nayebzada’s men.”

Approximately 100 American soldiers and officials are in Herat as part of a provincial team to rebuild infrastructure and provide security. The American military did not intervene in the fighting; however, a B-1 bomber flew low over the city Sunday night as a reminder of the presence of American forces, said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, a military spokesman in Kabul. “We did it so people know we are in the area and to discourage them from trying to attack” the reconstruction teams, he said. “But now the Afghan army is there.”