US aircraft have launched a bombing raid in eastern Afghanistan, apparently in support of Afghan government forces trying to break up a clash between tribal factions, a Pakistan-based news agency said.
The private Afghan Islamic Press (AIP) said a US plane bombed the Farm Bagh area, some 19 miles east of Khost town, yesterday evening after security forces loyal to the interim government tried to stop a tribal battle.
"The US planes arrived in the evening and dropped several bombs," AIP quoted Khost resident Zahir Shah, as saying.
There were no reports of casualties in the US bombing but at least two people were killed and five wounded, including members of the security forces, in the clash between fighters from the ethnic Pashtun Kochi and Gurbez tribes.
US forces have stayed out of the tribal and ethnic faction clashes that have erupted in various parts of Afghanistan in the wake of the defeat of the former Taliban government.
But interim government leader Hamid Karzai recently warned rival faction leaders he would call in US air strikes if they fought each other.
The reason for the fighting between the Kochi and Gurbez tribes was not immediately clear but there has recently been fighting in the area between rival commanders vying for power in the post-Taliban era.
Mr Karzai said today he would ask for a change in the mandate of the international security force in Kabul if violence increases, following what he called the assassination of his aviation minister.
Mr Karzai did not specify what changes he would ask for in the mandate of the International Security Assistance Force, telling reporters: "That's just a statement now; you will see later on.
"I will ask for every measure. I will use international forces, Afghan forces, to make life good for these people," he vowed.
Meanwhile an Australian soldier with the peacekeeping force in Afghanistan has been killed in a land mine explosion.
The soldier, who has not been named, was serving with the Special Air Service Regiment in southern Afghanistan.
Australia's defence minister Mr Robert Hill says the accident highlights the dangers faced by the peacekeeping forces.
AFP