Afghan army 'quells Herat clashes'

Afghanistan's many militias are a threat to central authority

Soldiers from Afghanistan's fledgling national army have seized an airbase near the western city of Herat from a rebel warlord, government sources say.

Shindand airbase has been the site of clashes between men loyal to Aminullah Khan and Herat's governor, Ismail Khan.

The fighting has been criticised as an attempt to disrupt forthcoming polls.

Further police and army units - numbering some 1,500 troops - are reportedly being sent to halt clashes that have claimed at least 20 lives.

President Hamid Karzai's office issued a statement praising the army's actions and warning rival militias to avoid turf wars.

Private militia

The government's claim that its army is in charge of the airbase follows a series of conflicting reports in which renegade warlord Aminullah Khan and Governor Ismail Khan both insisted they controlled the site.

The Afghan army units sent to the area are being assisted by US military and Nato forces, the US military has said.

Shindand is about 660km (412 miles) west of the capital Kabul.

Ismail Khan, known as the "emir of Herat", has in the past been seen as one of the main obstacles to President Karzai's efforts to extend his authority outside Kabul.

He controls one of the country's largest private militias.

Election peril

Separately, in the southern province of Kandahar, suspected Taleban militants attacked an army checkpoint, killing seven Afghan soldiers, officials say.

Rising insecurity - blamed on militia rivalries and a resurgent Taleban - poses the biggest threat to presidential elections set to take place in October.

The registration of voters in provinces in the south and south-east of the country - due to have ended on Sunday - has been extended until 20 August.