The New York Times reports on various factional fighting in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan’s conflict is beginning to look more like a messy civil war than a straightforward struggle between the government and its Taliban enemies, judging from an outbreak of violence in recent days.
Violence Flares in Afghanistan Among Various Groups, Rod Nordland and Jawad Sukhanyar, New York Times
In northern Faryab province, on the border with Turkmenistan, Jamiat forces had defeated Taliban insurgents. Then Jamiat and Junbish forces had fought. Then the Afghan Army had stepped in.
In the Faryab fighting on Friday, Taliban insurgents tried to overrun Almar District, but were repulsed by militiamen who are followers of Ghulam Farooq Qati, a commander associated with the Jamiat-i-Islami party, a group that supports the government but has rivalries with other northern militia groups.
After the Taliban were beaten back, according to a statement issued by the party’s Executive Council, fighting broke out between the Jamiat militiamen and militiamen from the Junbish party, an Uzbek group led by Afghanistan’s first vice president, the ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum.
Fighting continued into Saturday. Of the 10 people killed, eight were from Junbish and two from Jamiat, said Sayed Anwar Sadat, the governor of Faryab.
“We have sent Afghan Army forces to stop the fighting between both groups,” Mr. Sadat said. “Now the situation is normal and under the control of Afghan government forces in the area.”
Nadir Saeedi, a provincial council member from Faryab, said the Afghan Army had had to warn both sides not to cross a border line between their positions, or the army would attack them.
This is a flare-up of long fighting between Jamiat and Junbish, between supporters of the acting governor of Balkh, Atta Mohammad Noor, and Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
The acting provincial governor of northern Balkh province and Chief Executive of Jamiat-e-Islami party Ata Mohammad Noor has claimed that several people were left dead in an attack by the supporters of Junbish Milli party which is led by Vice President General Abdul Rashid Dostum.
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However, the supporters of Gen. Dostum have rejected the allegation as baseless and have claimed that the attack was initially launched by Gen. Qateh supporters on Junbish Milli supporters.
The Junbish Milli supporters have also claimed that the clash erupted as the supporters of the party were going back to their areas to resettle but faced resistance from the Jamiat party supporters.
Noor claims clash between Junbish and Jamiat supporters in Faryab left several dead, Khaama Press
There had been fighting in March, coming from a dispute over political billboards in Balkh.
Supporters of the First Vice President General Abdul Rasheed Dostum and Acting Governor of Balkh Atta Mohammad Noor have clashed in the northern Faryab province leaving at least one dead.
The incident took place in the provincial capital Maimana City. At least five people are reported injured. The fighting, which took nearly 20 minutes in the morning occurred in Sanayee Road in Maimana City.
The clash between members of the Noor’s Jamiat Party and Dostum’s Junbish Party ceased when the local police intervened.
One dead as supporters of Dostum and Noor clash in Faryab, Salam Watandar
In April, Secretary of State John Kerry had flown to Kabul, to tell Afghanistan to stop with all the factional fighting. Ashraf Ghani has General Dostum as his Vice President. Abdullah Abdullah is with Jamiat.
Kerry urged President Ashraf Ghani and Chief Executive Abdullah Abdullah to set aside their rivalries and work together, warning their political infighting could paralyze the country and dampen the confidence of the international community.
Last year, Atta Mohammad Noor had told Radio Free Europe that Jamiat and Junbish would stop their faction fighting, and would unite to defeat the Taliban.
We wanted Jamiat-e-Islami (Noor's party) and the Junbish party (Dostum's party) to be united with one hand and to inflict a powerful blow (to our enemies).
General Dostum had said much the same, along with explaining to the media about what General Dostum is.
In remarks to local media, Mr. Dostum, who likes to refer to himself as general, from his days as a military commander, said he would join forces with Gov. Atta, to fight both Taliban and Islamic State.
“Anybody who is casting a stone toward the enemies of Afghanistan— Daesh and Taliban—we lend a hand to,” he said.
Added Mr. Dostum: “Gen. Dostum is not an engineer. Gen. Dostum is not a doctor. Gen. Dostum has a Ph.D. in fighting the Taliban.”
Afghan Political Rivals Join Forces to Fight Militants, Nathan Hodge, Wall Street Journal
General Dostum had also told the media how to properly refer to General Dostum’s private armies.
Because of the history of such groups, “militia” has become a contentious term. Dostum prefers to call his men an “uprising force”.
“General Dostum does not create militias,” he said, referring to himself, as is his habit, in the third person.
Afghanistan's warlord vice-president spoiling for a fight with the Taliban, Sunne Engel Rasmussen, Guardian
The private armies of the Vice President, and the private armies of the acting Governor, which are fighting in Faryab, are the armies they are more or less allowed to have to fight the Taliban.
Both Mr. Dostum and Gov. Atta officially maintain that they don't have private armies, but the Afghan government has recently allowed militias loyal to both men to operate openly to help combat the Taliban in northern Afghanistan, raising fears about a return to the kind of warlordism seen during the country’s civil war.
The private armies of the acting Governor are also the ones that allow him to act as Governor. With the armies Atta Mohammad Noor has, it would be pretty hard to take his governorship away.