Afghan leader offers to help resolve Pashtun conflict

GARDEZ, Afghanistan (CNN) -- Afghanistan's interim leader Hamid Karzai expressed willingness to help resolve a conflict between two rival Pashtun forces in eastern Afghanistan, a spokesman for Pashtun leader Syed Hamid Gailani said Saturday.

Gardez remained calm for a second day Saturday, following two days of fighting between shura, or council, forces and a rival Pashtun force headed by Bacha Khan, who has been appointed acting governor of Paktia province by the Afghanistan interim administration.

Khan's forces had retreated to the east Thursday amid unconfirmed reports that he had left the province altogether. The shura, a council representing all of the clans and tribes of Paktia province, remained in control in Gardez.

Gailani, who is in the region in an attempt to establish peace between the rival Pashtun factions, requested the militia commanders in Gardez release the elderly and injured in their custody as a gesture of goodwill. Earlier in the day, four people seriously injured in the fighting were released to hospitals in Kabul.

A hospital reported 16 dead from the fighting this week and 60 wounded, with 20 of the wounded still hospitalized.

Gailani and his "peace convoy" returned to Gardez on Friday as negotiators from the two sides tried to settle their differences. Gailani has publicly challenged Khan's legitimacy, saying that after consultations with various Paktia groups the peace convoy leaders concluded the Paktia people oppose Khan.

The fighting between shura forces and Khan's fighters took place as Karzai asked the U.N. Security Council to extend the mandate for international security forces in Afghanistan.

The power struggle erupted before a backdrop of Pashtun tribes attempting to regroup throughout the war-ravaged country -- and the Afghan interim government's attempts to foster civil stability to avoid the type of tribal infighting that led to the ousted Taliban regime's rise to power.

One of the biggest tasks for the interim Afghan government is unifying a nation that has been traditionally ruled by tribes directed by warlords. Pashtuns are the largest ethnic group in Afghanistan.

Fighting at Gardez began as the peace convoy held meetings in Gardez. Khan had issued a Wednesday deadline for the peace convoy to leave the region or else he would capture Gardez by force. Just hours after the deadline passed, heavy fighting was reported in the southern part of the city between Khan's forces and local residents.