Posted on 01/24/2002 9:16:34 AM PST by B.Bumbleberry
PESHAWAR: Situation remained tense in the eastern Khost province of Afghanistan and people were seen fleeing their houses to take shelter in safe areas because of expected infighting between two rival groups for the slot of governor, Afghan sources said on Wednesday.
Sources told The News that a tribal elder Zakeem Shah Zadran accompanied by his 500 well guarded men arrived in Khost and took control of banks and other important installations including offices of secret agencies.
Zakeem Zadran, who considers himself a representative of former president Professor Burhanuddin Rabbani and defence minister General Faheem, warned the local population to remain peaceful. He is stated to be a resident of Uruzgan province of Afghanistan.
Seeing the large-scale concentration of armed people in the city, local people closed down their shops and left for safe areas. To cope with the situation, another tribal elder Bachaa Khan Zadran also ordered his people to be ready for handling any untoward incident, the sources added from Kurram and Miran Shah, bordering Khost province.
Bachaa Khan Zadran also considers himself a real representative of the head of interim government of Afghanistan Hamid Karzai. Bachaa Khan has reportedly claimed that he has been assigned responsibilities by Karzai to select governors for the three provinces of Afghanistan including Paktia, Paktika and Khost. The sources also claimed that Bachaa Khan Zadran enjoys support of the tribesmen in Khost and a clash between the two powerful groups is expected any time if intervention is not made from Kabul.
Impartial local tribal elders tried their best to resolve the dispute peacefully but no breakthrough could be achieved till our going to the press. However, these elders had been able to prevent both the factions from taking on each other.
Law and order situation in Khost was already shaky as three other candidates were also vying for the slot of governor of the province. "The recent development has created panic among the local population and they are likely to flee their houses," the sources said. Khost has been witnessing the brunt of US bombardment of late.
On Wednesday too American jet fighters hovered over Khost and its adjoining areas all day long. AFP adds: AIP on Wednesday said Dostam's forces had seized control of Qala-e-Zal, 60 km northwest of Kunduz near the Tajikistan border, after several days of fighting with troops from a rival ethnic Tajik faction.
The ethnic Tajik-controlled interim defence ministry, as well as sources close to Deputy Defence Minister Dostam, have tried to portray the battle as a minor skirmish and have denied any significant clashes, AIP said.
However, these elders had been able to prevent both the factions from taking on each other.They beat their spears on their shields, prance, preen, and strut like peacocks. But they seldom ever really fight.
This is actually the Afghan form of electing a governor. If they can't get past this, they're doomed to repeat the last 20 years.
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