UN team meets Afghan warlords

Militias clashed heavily outside Mazar-e-Sharif last month

A high-ranking team from the UN Security Council has met two of Afghanistan's most powerful warlords in an attempt to halt factional fighting in the north of the country.

The forces of generals Atta Mohammed and Abdul Rashid Dostum have recently been engaged in some of the fiercest clashes since the fall of the Taleban regime.

The warlords met the UN delegation, headed by German UN Ambassador Gunter Pleuger, in the northern city of Mazar-e-Sharif on Wednesday.

General Dostum, an ethnic Uzbek, and his Tajik rival both say they are loyal to the government of President Hamid Karzai.

The BBC's Sanjoy Majumder in Mazar-e-Sharif said this was a rare joint appearance for the generals.

Few armed men accompanied the warlords, he reported, but security was tight, with British Gurkha soldiers assuming positions on rooftops and along the perimeter of the UN compound where the meeting took place.

Renewed clashes

Mr Pleuger said the two commanders were told that factional strife was a matter of Afghanistan's past and had no place in its future.

General Dostum says ethnic repression has fanned extremism

The two warlords claim to control 20,000 troops apiece.

Last month, dozens of people died when troops and tanks faced off outside Mazar-e-Sharif, forcing UN and government leaders to negotiate a truce.

However clashes continue, with General Atta reporting new fighting in the northern Sari Pul province.

General Atta said after the UN meeting that only the complete disarmament of all militia factions would lead to peace.

General Dostum reportedly told the ambassadors that repression of Afghanistan's ethnic diversity had often fanned the flames of extremism.

The UN is keen to see increased security across the country ahead of national elections due next year.

The five-day visit of the delegation is to show the international community's support for Mr Karzai's government and reconstruction programme.

The Security Council team also met the new interim governor of Balkh province, of which Mazar-e-Sharif is the capital, along with UN officials and British troops.

In a separate incident in Kabul on Wednesday, an explosion shattered windows but caused no injuries at the offices of the Save the Children aid agency.

There was no immediate indication of the cause of the blast.