Afghan warlord hails 'martyr' son

Ismail Khan leads the funeral cortege

Afghan warlord Ismail Khan has buried his son, whose killing on Sunday sparked fierce factional fighting.

Thousands lined the streets of the western city of Herat, as the cortege carrying the body of Mirwais Sadiq was taken for burial.

In an emotional address to mourners, Mr Khan said his son was a martyr and told the government to find his killers.

He has blamed a local rival - dozens were reported dead in factional clashes which followed Mr Sadiq's death.

The BBC's Crispin Thorold in Herat says troops loyal to Mr Khan, the city's governor, are now fully in control and the city is calm.

The Afghan government has sent more than 1,000 troops from the newly-formed national army to Herat, but our correspondent says few of them can be seen on the streets.

'Revenge'

The body of Mr Sadiq, who was civil aviation minister in the Afghan government, was buried in a shrine on a hill overlooking Herat.

ISMAIL KHAN If the government doesn't have the authority to arrest the killer of Sadiq, we seek its permission to allow the people of Herat to do so Profile of Herat governor

Governor Khan and thousands of mourners accompanied the tank which bore his son's coffin to its final resting place.

Security was tight at the grave site and across the city.

Mr Khan told mourners that if his son's killers were not brought to justice, the "youths of Herat would take the revenge of the people".

He blames his son's death on forces belonging to local military commander Zahir Nayebzada. Those forces have now fled the city.

The exact sequence of events leading to Mr Sadiq's death remains unclear, but it followed a failed attempt on his father's life earlier on Sunday.

'Iron fist'

Mr Nayebzada has been quoted as saying his forces killed Mr Sadiq during a confrontation when the minister tried to relieve him of his command.

Our correspondent says Ismail Khan controls Herat with what some describe as an iron fist. He is loved and loathed in equal measure.

Ismail Khan, a former anti-Soviet resistance commander, is one of the most powerful men in Afghanistan, with a strong following among ethnic Tajiks and a private army.

Correspondents say President Hamid Karzai has virtually no influence in the province, where Mr Khan has dominated since the end of Taleban rule in late 2001.