Afghanistan Continues Slide Into Civil War; US Stands By and Laughs

While UN peacekeepers sit around Kabul with their thumbs up their ass, northern Afghanistan has plunged into full-scale civil war. My old buddies from my war correspondency days, warlords Atta Mohammad (no relation to the dead 9/11 hijacker) and Rashid Dostum, are tearing up the landscape near Mazar-e-Sharif, a provincial capital city near the nation’s border with Uzbekistan.

Here are some of the lowlights from the Associated Press.

MAZAR-E-SHARIF, Afghanistan – After fighting that killed dozens of people, rival warlords in northern Afghanistan said Thursday that they had reached a truce and would begin withdrawing tanks and other weapons within 48 hours.

But with soldiers squared off along a tense battlefield, it was not clear whether the cease-fire would hold despite assurances from both sides.

The fighting between the two groups — both nominally loyal to President Hamid Karzai — was the worst in northern Afghanistan in months, with one side claiming more than 60 people were killed.

One warlord, Atta Mohammed, said the truce took effect immediately and that both sides would return all weaponry to their bases in 48 hours.

“I am sure this cease-fire will hold,” Mohammed told The Associated Press.

Gen. Majid Rozi, a senior commander for northern warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum, confirmed the details of the truce and said the withdrawal of weapons had begun.

The agreement followed talks involving Afghan Interior Minister Ali Ahmad Jalali and British Ambassador Ron Nash.

“If there is no peace in the north of the country, it will damage the trust the international community has in us,” Jalali said after the signing of the truce on Thursday.

Much of the fighting has occurred about 12 miles west of Mazar-e-Sharif, home to 1.5 million people and scene of some of the bloodiest battles in the U.S.-led war to oust Afghanistan’s former Taliban regime.

A spokesman for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan, Manoel de Almeida e Silva, said the conflict was “very intense,” with both sides using tanks and mortars.

It was not immediately clear what sparked the fighting. A government spokesman in Kabul said it was most likely due to disputes over land or access to water, the cause of repeated clashes in the past two years.

The U.S. military in Afghanistan said it was concerned about the fighting and was closely monitoring it.

There are about 5,500 NATO-led peacekeepers in Afghanistan, but they are restricted to Kabul. NATO has drawn up plans to expand the force to other cities, including Mazar-e-Sharif.

Keep being concerned. Keep “monitoring the situation.” No need to leave Kabul. After all, it’s only been two years since you took over.

Still wonder why they hate us?

We’re such losers.