Rise in Violence in North Shows Afghanistan’s Fragility

[SWJED]

29 May NY Times - Rise in Violence in North Shows Afghanistan’s Fragility (http://www.nytimes.com/2007/05/29/world/asia/29afghan.html?ref=world) by Abdul Waheed Wafa and Carlotta Gall.

Angry supporters of Gen. Abdul Rashid Dostum, the ethnic Uzbek strongman, clashed with the police in the northern town of Shiberghan on Monday, leaving at least seven people dead and 34 wounded, officials said. The government sent army units to the area, anticipating further unrest.

Also in the north, a suicide bomber attacked a convoy of foreign security contractors, killing himself and two Afghan civilians. It was the fourth such attack in the north in the past two weeks.

The bombings in the relatively peaceful north indicated a rise in insurgent activity, and the violence in Shiberghan was a reminder of how tenuous Afghanistan’s internal stability remains, with former militia leaders like General Dostum still capable of rallying armed supporters to settle local power struggles..

[Steve Blair]

Another good reminder that we need to watch Afghanistan and stay engaged there.

[Merv Benson]

It is surprising that the police are not Dotsram's people. That seems to be the hiring model used in Anbar where the Sheik or in Dostram's case the war lords provides the bodies for the police recruits and the central government pays for their training and service.

[tequila]

Good rundown in Afghanistanica (http://afghanistanica.com/2007/05/28/what%e2%80%99s-behind-the-shooting-of-demonstrators-in-northern-afghanistan/) and Asia Times (http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/IE30Df01.html). Uzbeks, led by Dostum, are basically protesting the policies of a a northern Pashtun warlord appointed by Hamid Karzai to run Jowzjan province, which is predominantly Uzbek. The deaths look to have occurred during attempted storming/protest of the governor's residence --- undoubtedly he has his own forces there (in police unis, of course) to protect him.

Note that the Iraqi tribes in Anbar (the Uzbeks are not tribal, but the center-province clash is similar) are also feuding (http://www.csmonitor.com/2007/0504/p06s01-woiq.htm)with the Baghdad-appointed governor of Anbar.