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MULTIMEDIA
May 27, 2012
 
 
 
 
 
 

Afghan Taliban seizes villages from other militants after fierce battles

Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
9 March 2010 / AP, KABUL
The Taliban gained control of several villages in northeastern Afghanistan on Monday after two days of gunbattles with another extremist group that ended when nearly 70 of the rival militants retreated and surrendered to government forces nearby, officials said.
The fierce fighting, which left at least 50 dead from both sides, was a turf war between the Taliban and insurgent allies Hezb-e-Islami -- loyal to regional warlord Gulbuddin Hekmatyar -- that also might have been triggered by Hekmatyar’s apparent willingness to join the government-led peace process, officials said.

One of the Hezb-e-Islami militants who defected said on Monday that the fighters in the area are now willing to join the government and fight the Taliban in the northeastern province of Baghlan where the battles ended Sunday. “If the government protects us and supports us, we will finish the Taliban in Baghlan,” said Noorullaq, one of 11 Hezb-e-Islami commanders who turned their weapons over to the government. He spoke at a news conference on Monday in the provincial capital of Pul-e-Khumri.

The government of Afghan President Hamid Karzai has little control in the area of Baghlan where the fighting broke out.

 
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