Financial Times Monday, March 25, 2002
Afghan gunmen try to kill province's security chief
Afghan gunmen opened fire yesterday on the security chief of eastern Afghanistan's Khost province, missing him but killing one person and seriously injuring two others, AP reports from Kabul.
The gunmen, believed to be allies of the US special force in Khost, have taken refuge in their fortified airport compound, said Hazratuddin, intelligence chief of Khost.
"We have asked the Ameicans to hand them over but so far they haven't" he said.
The governor of Khost, Mohammed Ibrahim, has also demanded their arrest. According ot Hazratuddin, the men opened fire on Sur Gul, the provincial security cheif, because he had tried to disarm them a day earlier in the market. The man who died was Mr Gul's driver and bodyguard.
Khost is a volatile city, bristling with men wiht guns, and has been carved up into areas of control by warlords of varying strength. Most of the city is under the control of warlord Bacha Khan Zardran, but there are rivalies within his group.
Many such rivals have been recruited by the US special forces in their war on terrorism in Afghanistan. The US military providd them with training and $200 a month for each soldier, a significant sum in impoverished Afghanistan. Mr Gul also works with the US special forces.