FRACTIONS FIGHT IN NORTHERN AFGHANISTAN, POSSIBLY OVER ILLEGAL OPIUM POPPY
TRADE

KABUL, Afghanistan--Fighting between rival warlords--possibly over
drugs--left one person dead in remote northern Afghanistan, a senior
official said Saturday, confirming a renewed outbreak of the
fractional violence dogging efforts to stabilize the country.

Clashes erupted Thursday evening near Orgo in Badakhshan province,
Deputy Interior Minister Hillal said.

Afghan television had reported that as many as 20 people were killed
and another 40 wounded; Hillal said only one person was dead and five
were injured.

He said the fighting had stopped and that a team of investigators from
Kabul were trying to find out what happened, including whether
lucrative drug-trafficking was the cause.

Hillal said the protagonists were Orgo's mayor, Musadeq, who like many
Afghans uses only one name, and a local militia commander called Qari
Aizuddin. Their forces have clashed repeatedly in the past.

"As you know, there is a lot of (opium) poppy cultivation in
Badakhshan," Hillal said. "But we should wait for our team to return"
before drawing conclusions.

Fractional fighting has flared repeatedly across much of Afghanistan,
complicating the task of rebuilding a nation shattered by two decades
of war. Taliban and al-Qaida rebels also are active in lawless
southern and eastern provinces.

The heaviest recent outbreak came in October, when tanks of rival
warlords faced off on a battlefield outside the northern capital of
Mazar-e-Sharif. On that occasion one side claimed that more than 60
people had died before government mediators and British troops
brokered a cease-fire.

Both leaders--Uzbek strongman Abdul Rashid Dostum and Tajik commander
Atta Mohammed--were allies of the United States when it ousted the
Taliban in late 2001 and are nominally loyal to the central government.

The U.S.-backed administration of President Hamid Karzai still holds
little sway outside the capital, Kabul, which is patrolled by a
5,900-strong, NATO-led peacekeeping force. Another 11,000 mostly U.S.
forces are fighting the Taliban and hunting for terror suspects,
including al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.

Even in the provinces where the Taliban are not active, such as in the
north, powerful warlords compete for influence, often battling for
control of land and resources--including the booming narcotics trade.