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Police lift siege of ex-warlord Dostum

Afghan police lifted a brief siege of the house of former ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum in Kabul on Sunday after he and a group of around 50 armed men beat up a former ally, a police chief said.

  • Reuters
  • Published: 12:30 February 3, 2008
  • Gulf News

Kabul: Afghan police lifted a brief siege of the house of former ethnic Uzbek warlord Abdul Rashid Dostum in Kabul on Sunday after he and a group of around 50 armed men beat up a former ally, a police chief said.

The standoff highlights the problem of powerful warlords who helped tear Afghanistan apart in the 1992-96 civil war and are still waiting in the wings should President Hamid Karzai fail in the fight against Taliban insurgents and lose his grip on government.

Dostum, a fierce warlord with a reputation for brutality and treachery, beat up his former election manager Akbar Bay late on Saturday, said Kabul police chief Salem Hasaas.

One of Bay's bodyguards was shot and Dostum and his men fled to the warlord's house, Hasaas said. Bay was taken to hospital.

Surrounded

Dozens of police armed with assault rifles and machine guns mounted on pick-up trucks surrounded Dostum's house in a relatively upmarket part of Kabul and other officers took up positions on the roofs of neighbouring houses.


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