An Afghan warlord rained hundreds of rockets on the main east Afghan city of Gardez today killing at least 25 people in the biggest outbreak of fighting between rival Afghan forces for several months, the provincial governor said.
Governor Taj Mohammad Wardak of Paktia province, scene of the biggest US-led ground battle of the Afghan war last month, blamed the attack on former governor Padshah Khan Zadran who was ousted from power in February.
"He has fired about 500 rockets into Gardez today," Wardak told reporters by telephone from the city. "There are at least 25 dead and more than 100 wounded. They are all civilians. He is trying to take over Gardez," he said.
The fighting broke out on the day US Defense Secretary Mr Donald Rumsfeld visited Kabul and several hours after the Afghan capital's airport was hit by several rockets. There were no casualties in the airport attack.
In late January, around 50 fighters were killed in fighting between Padshah Khan and a rival commander Haji Saifullah Khan. The rivalry became so intense that interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai appointed Wardak as governor in February to try to calm the situation.